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January 13, 2015 03:45 PM UTC

Records Request Reveals Investigation of Pueblo GOP Chair For Election Document Theft

  • 16 Comments
  • by: ProgressNow Colorado

(Nothing up her sleeve! Not sneaky enough – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

WEDNESDAY POLS UPDATE: The Denver Post's editorial board weighs in:

Chostner's letter says the "evidence would support filing a misdemeanor election offense," but he declined to do so. Why? Undermining election security is a serious matter, and DAs need to impress that upon everyone.

—–

POLS UPDATE: The Pueblo Chieftain's Peter Roper reports:

Becky Mizel, chairman of the Pueblo County Republican Party, received a stern letter from District Attorney Jeff Chostner last month that said video evidence showed she took confidential election records from a Nov. 18 county election canvass board meeting — a misdemeanor charge that Chostner said would not be filed against her because Mizel argued it was inadvertent.

Chostner's letter, dated Dec. 10, acknowledged that Mizel insisted the episode was an accident, but the letter clearly challenged that, citing video records of the meeting…

Chostner's letter said Ortiz provided the canvass board with a "direct recording election" report and an abstract report of results to review. Ortiz advised those at the meeting that those reports could not leave the room.

Chostner's letter said video showed Mizel later putting the documents in her satchel, attempting to leave by a different door than the rest of the people at the meeting, only to find that door locked.

—–

ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, today called on Pueblo Republican Party Chair Becky Mizel to publicly apologize and explain her apparent theft of a confidential election document. ProgressNow Colorado obtained video and documents in an Open Records Act request regarding elections procedures and meetings in Pueblo County.

According to video [1] and documents obtained from the Pueblo District Attorney and Clerk & Recorders offices, available from ProgressNow Colorado upon request, Mizel only narrowly avoided criminal charges related to the disappearance of a document from an election certification meeting on November 18, 2014. The document contained confidential information from ballots cast in person on voting machines.

"The kind of shenanigans we're learning about in Pueblo are shameful and unacceptable," said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Amy Runyon-Harms. "As an elected official representing the Republican Party, Mizel should be held to a higher standard. At the very least, Mizel is guilty of juvenile nonsense unworthy of any legitimate stakeholder in our elections. At worst? The Pueblo GOP is not above cheating to achieve their goals."

Records obtained by ProgressNow Colorado reveal that the document in question was discovered missing on November 18, during a meeting of the Pueblo canvass board. Pueblo GOP chair Mizel is not a member of the canvass board and was attending as an election "watcher." Despite a request by Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert Oritz that the document be returned, Mizel did not return the document until the next day–after it was revealed that a camera had captured Mizel taking it.

Pueblo District Attorney Jeff Chostner investigated the incident, and notified Mizel that she had been observed taking the document and returning it the next day. Chostner warned Mizel in a letter obtained by ProgressNow Colorado that her behavior risks criminal charges. [2]

"Mizel's misbehavior is part of a larger trend in Colorado, where extremists who don't like the election results or the voting process attempt to break the system: refusing to certify the vote, frivolous lawsuits, and now even stealing official documents to stall the vote of the people," said Runyon-Harms. "It's shameful and needs to stop."

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16 thoughts on “Records Request Reveals Investigation of Pueblo GOP Chair For Election Document Theft”

  1. THIS IS A RIDICULOUS FISHING EXPEDITION BY THE FAR LEFT IN DENVER. NO CHARGES WERE FILED, BECKY MIZEL RETURNED THE DOCUMENTS SHE ACCIDENTALLY COLLECTED! WE KNEW THIS WAS COMING. HERE IS BECKY'S RESPONSE. SHAME ON YOU FOR ATTACKING A GOOD PERSON.

    Most of you realize the certification process of the election by our canvassing team was to put it mildly a contentious one. Some of you are aware during this process while sitting at the table with Ron Schwartz, Normagene Ricci and our election expert Harvie Branscomb we were reviewing numerous copies of election information spread across the table.  I inadvertently placed two of these copies in my stacks of files. I was not aware at the time these copies laying all over the table were not for our personal information. We had a video producer we had hired all within three feet of me that showed me looking at the copies and placing them within my other files. During this time  Clerk Ortiz became upset and angry when precinct data did not reconcile and at that point had myself, Ron, Normagene and Harvie removed from the table and told we could no longer speak in the meeting.  In this chaos I had left these copies of files among my other papers on the table. Shortly after this the canvassing meeting ended the atmosphere was hostile as the election was not certified.. At this time Clerk Ortiz announced all copies were not turned over and locked us inside the election department until the copies were produced. I realized I had placed what I thought was a work sheet of precinct data ( I had marked it and dogeared it) so returned it immediately not realizing I had another file in my numerous stacks of papers.  I attempted to leave along with another PCRP member but we were still locked in – eventually he released us. The next morning I realized I had another copy of precinct data while looking through my files (public data) and returned it.

    Clerk Ortiz made the decision to try to criminally prosecute me for "Theft of an election document" and turned it over to the DA for investigation. Needless to say this was very stressful, however, I made the decision to go in without counsel and just tell what happened.  I spent two and a half hours going through the details of what occurred. The DA office made the decision what I did was not a "deliberate act and caused no harm", but I did receive a confidential letter of reprimand. That was to be the end of this stressful situation . However this week a Watch Dog Group – Progress Now Colorado, has CORA requested the investigation that the DA was forced to release.

     I wanted membership to be prepared for this situation to be spread around in a most embarrassing light in case it does hit internet, social media and perhaps now the Pueblo Chieftain. Please feel free to call me personally if you would like me to answer any concerns.
    …

    As always please feel free to call me if you have any questions 719-671-7095

    1. Looks like an honest mistake.  Actually, that's almost refreshing considering some of the vicious voter suppression and Citizen's United style bribery now smearing our politics.

       

        1. Then please explain what evil purpose would be accomplished by taking home a document that can be legally read at the election office.  Good luck with that.

          2. Plenty of drunk drivers don't have an evil purpose; they break the law nonetheless.

            I think the letter from the DA indicates that her actions were intentional and knowing (that she shouldn't be doing what she was).  I'd bet it was because she saw a chance to "catch the clerk" in some election fraud and wanted to review or have reviewed the documents.  Partisan idiocy isn't evil, but that doesn't mean she didn't knowingly violate the law.

    3. If this was an honest mistake, ask Ms. Mizel why she tried to sneak out the back way.  Or why she was the only one to refuse to check her papers before leaving the Elections Office.  Yes, I wa there, and observed it all.

      Mama is right; this is a play right out of the GOP dirty playbook. Mizel had hopes of finding something to use against the Elections Dept or the Clerk.  The lights were on late the Repub HQ on the night in question.  Was she there with Harvie and others copying the document or scouring it for something usable?

      She has lost all credibility.

  2. This is right out of the GOP election playbook. The playbook reads, "If there is no election fraud, create it,, and then accuse the Democrats of fraud. It's the same playbook Jon Caldara, Victor Head, Todd Shepherd of Complete Colorado,

    The Pueblo GOP, has been accusing and insinuating that Democrats in general, and Clerk Ortiz in particular of fraud, lying, interference with elections, and anything else which they could throw at the wall and try to make stick. 

    If voters are voting normally, shake thingst up and create problems. 

    This one would read, "If all the numbers add up, steal some so that they don't, then accuse Clerk Ortiz of running a sloppy and uncertifiable election."

    No wonder it was so hard to get the 2014 election certified, when it did not have the result that the Pueblo GOP desired, i.e., Victor Head elected to replace Ortiz.

    It's very evident from watching the video that Mizel's concealment and theft were deliberate, no matter what she says. Weak sauce.

    1. It's obvious what Mizel was doing. She consistently waited until Bo Ortiz was not looking. She obviously knew what those documents were since she flipped through them again before she concealed them.

      Chostner should have pressed charges.

  3. A watcher should not be in a place where they can access the documents being reviewed by the canvassing board. Even Gilpin County, where we had little spare space in which to work, had an area set aside for watchers which was out of arm's reach from the canvassing tables.

    This is either a shortcoming in the Pueblo Clerk's office in handling the canvass, or a deliberate act by the Pueblo GOP chair. The Clerk's office alleges the latter; the response from Mizel pretty much suggests the former. If things are as Mizel describes, then I am particularly disappointed to see election reform activist Harvie Branscomb's name in a situation that he should have known was against proper election procedures.

    1. Phoenix,  the Canvass Board was co-opted by the Rs, as Harvie admitted in a letter to the Chieftain. The co-opted Board elected a Chair who allowed Harvie, Mizel and others to participate as if members of the Board. 

      Again, this was a coordinated effort to create the illusion of fraud. It began early in the Fall, when Rs and Libertarians were persuaded to change their party affiliations to the American Constitution Party in order to co-opt and disrupt  the work of the Canvass Board.

      1. So Mizel has changed her mind and will run again for Pueblo GOP chair. With Victor Head as vice-chair, no less.

         The scary part is that they totally believe their own hype – that there is some wicked vast conspiracy to disenfranchise Republican voters  in Pueblo.  They just refuse to see that maybe the problem is that Pueblo voters don't like the way they carry on, with their threats and sneaking documents out and blocking certification and baseless accusations and expensive recall elections……

        I'd like to think that there are some reasonable people in the Pueblo GOP who will want someone still conservative, but with common sense and respect for the rule of law. Time will tell.

         

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