May 19, 2006 08:00 AM UTC

Republicans Gear Up for Tomorrow's State Assembly

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• by: Colorado Pols

Good rundown provided by The Denver Post:

After a week of mounting tensions, Republican gubernatorial candidates Marc Holtzman and Bob Beauprez are readying for a Saturday showdown at the state GOP assembly in Colorado Springs. While both campaigns and the state party Thursday downplayed the potential for infighting and voting mishaps, the GOP has taken extraordinary measures to protect the balloting.

A team of about 150 – including 35 El Paso County sheriff’s deputies, 35 ballot-box judges, 70 ballot-distribution judges, four computer experts and five ballot-machine experts – will watch the voting. Cellphones have been banned, and delegate credentials will be closely monitored.

The major upgrade in security is primarily due to Holtzman, who for months has expressed concerns that Republican Party leaders might block his ability to get on the ballot. However, he is not expecting any voting problems now, said spokesman Jesse Mallory…

…Rachael Sunbarger, spokeswoman for the state Republican Party, said the party has “an airtight voting process.” “All the staff has worked very hard that voting processes are dramatically different from 2004’s convention,” she said.

At that assembly, voting troubles led to more votes counted than delegates present. Last month, Holtzman sent GOP party chair Bob Martinez a letter citing “grave concerns” over the “potential for widespread fraud and manipulation” at the convention.