August 05, 2013 08:01 PM UTC

Chieftain: The Gypsy Votercalypse is Coming!

• 10 Comments
• by: kwtree

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Just when I thought that the Pueblo Chieftain was trying hard to be more balanced and less sensational, they run a piece like this one.  First line:

There are growing concerns about the potential impact of the state’s new voting law.

So, we have anonymous third party attribution of a quote. "Someone" has growing concerns. Who? You won't know until you read through the paywall, although there is a hint at the bottom. Becky Mizel, Chair of the Pueblo Republican Party. She's very concerned. Jeff Chostner, the Democratic District Attorney, who would have to prosecute any voter fraud found. He's concerned, too, but we won't know that without a subscription.

Then, you have sloppy reporting and sourcing. Which new voting law? This refers to House Bill 1303, passed in the last legislative session. What's got conservative shorts twisted is page 10 of the bill, which changes the requirement to live in Colorado prior to an election from 30 days to 22 days. That makes Gypsies pack their wagons, doncha know. We'll have voter fraud for sure, if we just cut 8 days from the residence requirement.

Then there is an anonymous photo of County Clerk Gilbert Ortiz. Nice photo, no caption. Who is this guy and what does he have to do with voter fraud? Sorry, you have to pay to know that. UPDATE: This is only a problem on the online preview edition. The paper edition, and the paid digital pdf edition, have a caption with a quote attributed to Ortiz: "The fundamental rights of the individual outweigh the possible loopholes to the law. "

Continuing with the portion of the article visible on the online preview edition:

People need only to swear under penalty of perjury that they have lived in Colorado for at least 22 days and reside or plan to reside in the precinct or county they wish to vote. Once they do that, they’re allowed to cast ballots.

See anything missing there? How about the fact that registering to vote in a place one does not live is voter fraud?***  If one reads through the paywall, one finds some  reasonable quotes from Mr. Ortiz  explaining that the "new law" is neither new, nor a big deal, nor likely to result in fraud based on past experience.

But Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz said the ability for people to register late in the election cycle was available before the new law.

The only real change has been the elimination of a 30-day waiting period.**

Ortiz said people were allowed to come in at the last minute and change their address and the process was similar to what it is now.

Over the last 10 years, Ortiz says, out of 433,942 total ballots cast in Pueblo County in Colorado, only two actual voter fraud cases were found. Per District Attorney Chostner, one was an English emigrant who returned home, and the other one registered when she got a driver's license. It was an honest mistake, and her voter registration was canceled.

Then Mr. Chostner relates his concerns with this recall election:

Chostner said there hasn’t been a problem with voter fraud in Pueblo County in the past, but he’s afraid the new law has opened that door.

So, OMG! Everyone panic! The gypsy voters are coming! No one has any real evidence of the coming votercalypse, but what the heck. Feeding paranoia and rumors is good for the paper's circulation. Maybe people will pay to read the actual article.

My real problem with this article is the "teaser" on the front page. The anonymous quotes, the fear-raising headline, the lack of sources for the reader to make up his/her own mind, the only quote on the front page being from someone who really has no evidence that the law will result in voter fraud, but is quoted as a reliable source anyway…And, most of all, NOT including the information that voter fraud is a felony crime. **

The Chieftain is still playing the same old fear-mongering games, playing to emotions rather than reason. Because this recall election needs more emotional intensity, right?

When the Gypsy Votercalypse  shambles over the horizon, watch for them to come stumbling by the Chieftain office. There's a drop-off box there. I hear that they're looking for brains.

**The law which allows voters to register in another precinct on election day, rather than waiting 30 days previous to the election, was enacted in 2012. It is 1-2-216(4)(a) . It is still election fraud, and a felony, if false information is given in order to vote in the new precinct.

***UPDATE: Mr. Ortiz was kind enough to send me information about the relevant Colorado statutes covering penalties for election fraud, if a voter knowingly submits false residence information:  (b/c gypsy voters are known for doing that)

1-13-709. Voting in wrong precinct. Any person who, at any election provided by law, knowingly votes or offers to vote in any election precinct in which he or she is not qualified to vote shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than eighteen months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

1-13-709.5. Residence – false information – penalty. Any person who votes by knowingly giving false information regarding the elector's place of present residence commits a class 6 felony and shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-401, C.R.S.