I received the following letter from the editor of the Colorado Springs Independent which also published the following article that illustrates the problems with voter registration in El Paso County. In my blog I also discuss our own problems with the office in correcting my wife's MIB. Here is a copy of the Governor's letter:

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
136 State Capitol Building
Denver, Colorado 80203
(303) 866 -2471
(303) 866 - 2003 fax

Bill Ritter, Jr.
Governor
October 9.2008

Secretary of State Mike Coffman
Colorado Department of State
1700 Broadway
Denver, CO 80290

Dear Secretary Coffman:

I
am certain that you share my view that the opportunity to vote in our
elections is a fundamental right that, as public officials, we must
make every effort to protect. I believe that you also share my
commitment to ensuring that all Coloradans who are qualified and wish
to exercise this right have every opportunity to do so in November's
election. The purpose of this letter is to urge you to take more
aggressive steps to correct an error made by your office regarding the
deadline for remedying an incomplete voter registration application. A
letter prepared by your office and mailed by a number of county clerks
incorrectly told over 4,000 registrants with incomplete applications
that any deficiencies had to be rectified by October 6, 2008. As you
know, under state statute and your own rules, these registrants may
correct or supplement their applications at anytime prior to voting.
See C.R.S. § 1-2-509(3); Election Rule 2.6.3. Your dissemination of
inaccurate information may disenfranchise hundreds or thousands of Coloradans, an outcome that is unacceptable.

Since
Monday my Office has been contacted directly by scores of constituents
who are concerned that they and others who thought they registered to
vote will be disenfranchised come election day. Members of my staff
have been in contact with members of your staff, and I am aware that
your office learned last Friday that your initial instruction to county
clerks was inaccurate. Further, I understand that your office
is
preparing a letter to go to the applicants who were provided inaccurate
information, but that this letter will not be completed until Friday of
this week at the earliest. or as late as next week. In my view this
letter alone is too little, too late. I urge you, as the chief election
official in this State, to direct all county election officials to make
personal contact by telephone with each potential voter who may have
been misled or confused by the earlier communications. I urge you to
direct county election officials to include these people on the polling
books statewide and to provide these individuals with the opportunity
to remedy this technical deficiency at the polls on election day.
Finally, I urge you to contact media outlets statewide to ensure that
corrected information is communicated as broadly as possible. In short,
please ensure that these individuals are notified that they will be
afforded every opportunity to remedy any deficiencies in their
applications with minimal burden through election day.

Unfortunately,
this is not the first time this season that county election officials
have issued erroneous communications that have the potential to
disenfranchise qualified voters. Last month, EI Paso County Clerk and
Recorder Bob Balink publicly acknowledged that he had misinterpreted
Colorado law when he sent an erroneous message to Colorado College
indicating that students whose parents live in another state and claim
them as dependents for tax purposes are not eligible to register to
vote in Colorado. Even after correcting his error, Mr. Balink posted on
his office's website a caution to college students warning them of
potential negative ramifications of registering to vote in Colorado.
These actions were, in the first case, wrong and in the other, beyond
the scope of his duties as Clerk. His actions are unacceptable and
should
be carefully scrutinized by your office.

It is
critical that public officials charged with carrying out the law
provide the public with accurate information. It is all the more
critical when, as here, the wrong information has the impact of
discouraging citizens from exercising a fundamental right. Providing
the wrong information is inexcusable for many reasons: it
disenfranchises
voters; it makes citizens skeptical (especially when
the chief election official is on the ballot); and it exposes the State
to litigation risk. But most importantly, it risks impacting the
outcome of the election.

Our focus as public officials should
be on ensuring that every qualified elector in this State is able to
exercise his or her right to vote in the upcoming election. This
includes encouraging the use of mail-in ballots, as well as expanding
access to early voting opportunities. To that end, I ask that you join
me in requesting that every county across our State open its polls on
weekends during the early voting period, as feasible.
Providing
additional access to early voting opportunities across the State, at
times most convenient for the working men and women of Colorado, is all
the more critical in this year's election when we can expect record
turnout and a longer than usual ballot. In addition, I ask that you
join me in requesting that those voters who have the flexibility in
their schedules to permit them to vote between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on
election day, when lines will be shortest, do so. It is steps like
these that will help ensure that all Coloradans who are registered and
wish to vote will be able to exercise this fundamental right.

Thank you for your prompt attention to these issues.

Sincerely,
.
Bill Ritter, Jr.

Governor