CO-04 (Special Election)
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(R) Greg Lopez
(R) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Joe Biden*
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%↓
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
90%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
90%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
(R) Ron Hanks
40%
30%
20%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(R) Deborah Flora
(R) J. Sonnenberg
30%↑
15%↑
10%↓
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Dave Williams
(R) Jeff Crank
50%↓
50%↑
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
90%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) Brittany Pettersen
85%↑
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
(R) Janak Joshi
60%↑
35%↓
30%↑
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
November 03, 2014 10:22 AM UTC
14 Comments
Voter fraud efforts by the GOTP are merely institutional racism masquerading as "rule of law."
No one other than racist, power-by-any-means-necessary GOTP partisans believes otherwise.
The Big Lie of vote fraud was a big nothingburger here in Colorado because we weren't having any of it, but it has provided all the (minimal) cover needed in a number of states across the country where it might have an effect.
A number of states have passed voter ID laws that don't even meet the Supreme Court's minimal Indiana standard of having free ID readily available to those who say they cannot afford ID. They exclude whole classes of people (e.g. college students) which court rulings have made clear cannot be excluded from voting.
To proclaim victory over this farce here in Colorado is to ignore the national impact the "vote fraud" crusade has. Colorado's elected officials contributed to the early narrative that helped justify some of these laws; Scott Gessler as our Secretary of State testified before Congress on the "massive" fraud. We're (as a state) not innocent or victorious – we're complicit in electing him and spreading this BS.
Besides O'Keefe, the creepiest thing I saw this campaign was a GOP door knocker that says in big red ink: "NOTICE: Your voting record is Public Notice." Implying that your GOP neighbors/Borg will look you up to see if you voted.
This is like the Simpson's episode where Homer reneged on a donation to PBS and Elmo chases him down saying, "Elmo knows where you live!"
I'm sure the implication is that they could tell who you voted for, not just that you had voted. Which, unless the election is run completely against the rules, isn't true.
Both voting history and (at least in some cases) ballots are available to the public. But they can't be correlated – your name can't be put to a specific ballot. (Unless you live in some screwy multi-district situation where your household is in a unique combination of districts and the clerk hasn't separated out the ballots to prevent such correlation…)
Their message (not so hidden) is that we know you are a registered Repug, and we also know whether you voted (they are assuming you would vote Repug).
By contrast, our door hangers offer helpful advice not to mail their ballots after Friday and to drop them off to be sure they are counted.
Elections GOP-style: Suppress the Dem vote and intimidate your own supporters. Creepy.
You mean the Republican nominee for Secretary of State who is the clerk and recorder for one of the most Conservative counties in the entire country has acknowledged that voter fraud is not a real issue?
No – he just says he hasn't seen many issues. Either that means he's not doing his job, or it means (in his mind) that it just hasn't happened yet because Democrats are waiting until 2016 when they will unleash a wave of vote fraud efforts in order to get Hillary elected – probably by bussing in illegal immigrants and ISIS fighters, who will also unleash Ebola on Republican voters in order to suppress their vote (and destroy the country from within).
At some point demographics will dictate that desperate voter suppression efforts aren't going to be enough to hold back the tide. Rs will find they have completely alienated and infuriated groups they need to to do better with and which have grown too large for the infuriating suppression efforts to keep them in check. We can speed that up.
In preparation for the next election citizens groups should be formed to hurry the process up by having as their sole purpose reaching the suppression targeted voters and educating them as to exactly what they need to secure their right to vote, aiding them in navigating the process of obtaining the documents they need, aiding them with the transportation they need and raising funds to fully subsidize whatever costs are involved.
With the partisan hack majority Supreme Court we have now, voter ID laws that involve a de facto poll tax on those least able to afford it will be allowed to stand. Money spent and hours contributed by foot soldiers, both paid and volunteer, to get the IDs these laws require into the hands of every single voter who needs them should be approached the same way we approach GOTV, with a massive well funded boots on the ground all out effort. Whatever it takes will be money and energy well spent and every bit as important as money spent on ads and GOTV. ID requirements won't work to suppress if Dem supporting groups make sure everybody has the required ID. This is as important now as registering voters in the Jim Crow south was in the mid 20th century.
States with Dem legislative majorities need to pass laws that guarantee free access to an ID that meets any ID law requirements and to any documents required to obtain those IDs. To guard against future Republican legislative majorities, that's one that I'd be willing to vote into Colorado's constitution as an amendment. It's the kind of right that belongs in the constitution.
When we have the House and Senate back again we need to make that universal by passing legislation that any state that requires specific forms of ID must provide all its citizens the required ID for free and with no charge for obtaining documents if those documents are to be used for obtaining ID.
We can start to erase voter suppression via de facto poll tax right now. Get out the IDs and voter ID laws will be neutered.
This is easier said than done. In Pennsylvania, for example, the state DMV admits that it does not have the capacity to register all of the active voters thought to be without adequate ID. Nor have they been given the budget to staff up despite knowing the situation. Even given the two years between now and 2016 they probably can't catch up. Fortunately in PA, it is likely that Republican Gov. Corbett is going to get the boot for his lousy governance, but that's not the case in many of the states that passed voter suppression laws.
Of course it's not going to be easy. Nothing worth doing ever is. But that's no reason to just shrug it off. No reason not to do as much as can be done. There is certainly time to make a huge difference between now and 2016 to make sure as many already registered voters, voters we already have in the bank, have the ID they need to vote as possible if it's treated as an all hands on deck top priority. And it should be. It would be the best investment of time and money Dems could possibly make.
"Not easy" == "not possible". Sure we can make a dent in it, and I'm pretty damned sure the advocacy groups in states with new voter ID laws have been helping people get their IDs straightened out.
But as a short-term, next couple of cycles thing, some portion of the disenfranchised voters in those states will sadly remain unable to get a voting ID because the system simply does not have the capacity to deal with the law.
And if Republicans can drag that out into the 2020 election cycle, they get to retain control for another decade in places where they otherwise might lose their majority status.
A bigger story is which states participate in what's called Crosscheck, a 27 state ( including Colorado, which might explain the extravagant claims of voter mischief here) a voter suppression tool billed as eliminating fraud. ( yes, they have no convictions) Greg Palast last nite on Democracy Now! reporting for Al Jezeera.
Crosscheck is a 6.3 million name list of common names, 1st, lat, w/o DOB or middle initial differential. . As I watched, a Kansas vote clerk kept referencing CO in his list . I want to know how CO got involved in this charade. More sensible states, WA, FL have withdrawn from participation.
Further, election eve rolls around,& NC will be breathlessly reported, keep in mind they have purged voters using Crosscheck. another link: http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/crosscheck_program_could_strip_millions_of_the_right_to_vote_20141103
I think the concept of an interstate system such as CrossCheck is generally a good idea. The devil, as always, is in the details – and you've pointed out a number of those details.
CrossCheck is the brainchild of Kansas Secretary of State (and Arizona SB 1070 author) Kris Kobach. You might guess, if you remember SB 1070, that Kobach is a Republican anti-immigrant fanatic and perhaps might have a bias. He's been encouraging the use of CrossCheck to initiate voter purges.
Our own Secretary of State, Scott Gessler, also went on something of a vote fraud crusade if you'll remember. The two teamed up using CrossCheck. Unfortunately for Gessler, Colorado's laws didn't allow him to do massive unconfirmed voter purges, and by the time he was done following through with confirmed info, CrossCheck only flagged a couple of folks along the CO-KS border who might have double-voted in each state.