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November 30, 2006 08:47 PM UTC

Will it Stick on Hick?

  • 43 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

The failure of the Denver Election Commission has become the story that just won’t die (nor should it), but will it be the issue that finally puts a major dent in the armor of Denver Mayor “Teflon” John Hickenlooper? As the Rocky Mountain News reports:

Denver’s Election Day debacle was caused by custom Sequoia software that was “very poorly designed and fundamentally flawed,” a consultant said Wednesday.
“It does not meet or even approach professional standards,” said Fred Hessler, of Fujitsu Consulting, in his first report to Mayor John Hickenlooper’s task force examining the election mess.

Hessler was reporting on voter registration software that slowed to a crawl and stopped, causing three-hour lines and leading an estimated 18,000 citizens to give up their attempt to cast a ballot.

Hessler said his team had 100 users open the first log-on page of the software, and it slowed when only one person logged on. He said that’s because the program started accessing the database with that first page, and it should not…

…”Ninety percent of users did not exit correctly,” he said. The software failed to close these open sessions even after three hours.

“These are not minor oversights or errors,” he said. “This is Programming 101.”

The software was not stress-tested before the general election either by Sequoia or Denver, he said, even though it was so unstable it could not be used to train poll workers. Instead, they were trained on paper.

What do you think?

Will the DEC Failures Stick on Hick?

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43 thoughts on “Will it Stick on Hick?”

  1. When are state and local governments going to finally figure out that major software development projects are stealth disasters?  How much public money has to be wasted, and how many citizens inconvenienced, before managers finally get it?  These projects MUST be overseen from start to finish by teams of experts who can not only advise the agency but also ensure that the agency gets what it contracts for.  Part of the expertise that’s needed is technical, part of it is just having people who understand the importance of clear communication of software needs during the development process, and part of it is having people who understand all the testing requirements that must be met before rollout.  And the agencies must have people who can and will say “no” to the vendors when requirements are not met. 

    1. When I think about some of the great projects of our country that were done without computers or even telephones, I’m amazed.  The Golden Gate and Bixby Canyon bridges in CA, Hoover Dam, the Empire State building, the Owens River aquaduct, etc.

      Then we produced zillions of tons of armaments in WWII mostly with slide rules, trains, and telegraphs.

      Now we can’t get a software project to run right, witness the recent DHS fiasco. I’m sure some scientific philosopher can expound on hitting some kind of complexity wall in our society.  Even our personal lives are far more complex than our parent’s. 

    2. About the time multinational consulting companies start delivering on deadlines. IE never.

      Right with ya on the oversight though, payment should also be contingent on >delivery< - just like it is for the little people.

      One other part of the process is not hiring people that have LIED ON THEIR RESUMES. Gods! Can it BE any more OBVIOUS that the GOP -wanted- this election to be screwed up?

      Sequoia should be sued for all the costs incurred, including the time voters lost trying to vote. Ineptitude like this is beyond redemption. I want some butts, preferrably smoking.

            1. I’m NOT an IT guy, but since Larimer County managed to write a successful program that they were willing to give away, how hard can it be?  Isn’t it essentially a networked database so that a voting center can be sure Billy Bob didn’t just vote at another center? (A big issue in modern America, I’m sure.)

              Couldn’t this be a simple MySQL open source thing?  Did I get the right program name?

  2. Even though there is a great deal of attention in the news about the software failure, I fear the public at large will throw the baby out with the bathwater and blame the debacle as much on the vote-center idea as it does on the software.  Perfect example is the latest edition of the Cherry Creek local paper, which had a “told you so” editorial blaming the vote centers for the waits and voting problems.

    1. you’re right, it’s too easy for those who had to wait, or who even just watched the problems, to misplace the blame because the problem is a little bit difficult to understand

      i think the test of Hickenlooper here is whether he can guide the pubic to understanding just what the problem is — and _then_ how to solve it — rather than acquiesce to conventional unwisdom

    2. The vote centers are a huge problem for large counties, software vendors, election officials and voters.

      Vote centers are created for the convenience of bureaucrats, not to encourage voting or fair elections. Without vote centers, we don’t need complicated, insecure software or time-consuming training sessions for election judges.

      What the mayor should do is push legislation at the state or city level that outlaws vote centers in the name of making voting neighborhood friendlly and convenient for voters.

      Keep it simple, stupid.

      1. I”d wager that the people pushing vote centers have a personal interest in selling the needed software and, most expensively, maintaining it.

        You’ve got to have a financial incentive to promote vote centers, or you’ve got to be a sucker for software vendors’ sales pitches. This is all about making money for the techies.

        1. Vote centers are needed due to HAVA and disability requirements (promulgated, I can’t help but to point out, by Republicans and Republican owned voting machine companies.) It’s a lot easier to rig the vote when it’s centralized, dontcha know?

          They take fewer election judges, which are becoming harder to get.  With all the technical issues, it’s hard to find an old woman with PC skills.  (My 89 year old mother does do email and banking, but no more!)

          Neighborhood election places take just as much hardware and software, if not more. 

          The days of neighborhood polling places are coming to a close.  I’m not championing that, but that’s reality.

  4. It all depends.  If Hick plays it right (which so far he is) AND the next couple of elections go smoothly, his image as the Problem-Solver Mayor only gets stronger.  If there’s another election debacle during his term, any future political ambitions are in serious trouble.

  5. The Mayor’s office and the Election Commission are separate entities and the DEC is, by Charter, independent of the other agencies in the city. The Mayor only gets some involvement through appointing one of the 3 members of the Commission.

    In this particular instance it was the mayor’s office who tried to help with some of the IT problems but were rebuffed by the DEC’s IT guy, Anthony Rainey.

    While it easy to say it was all Rainey’s fault, there is more to the story. Rainey answered to others who should have seen the problem that developing.

    The people standing the sign “the buck stops here” are, of course, the Commissioners. The appointed one has already resigned and the 2 elected ones stand so little of a chance of being elected to anything, any political aspirations they have are essenitally over. They will limp along until their terms end in July, mostly because it would be too disruptive to getting things fixed to replace them at this point.

    The one other person in this equaltion is the Director, John Gaydeski. I have so far been willing to cut him some slack because many of the problems predated his arrival and he really has not had the opportunity to address them. If May’s election does not go more smoothly, that honeymoon will be over!

    Of course, not being a Commissioner, I have no say in his job security. The ones elected in May may not be as forgiving as I am.

    1. Forgive me, Dan, but the Charter provides (from the good ol’ Speer days) the framework for a “strong mayor.” If you wish to buy the “Ain’t my job, man,” line the Hicks have been spewing in response to just about every debacle that occurs in this city, that’s your privelege–myopic though it may be. However, let me make the point that a “strong mayor”–which the Hick obviously isn’t–would have sat the folks at the DEC (elected and appointed) down behind a closed door and, in no uncertain terms, demanded a fix OR ELSE. If the Hick has the clout and influence as so many believe he does, then, politics being politics, I do believe the DEC would have responded. This wimpy cry that the mayor’s office “offered” to help but was rebuffed by the DEC is an absurd copout that speaks volumes about the mindset of the Hicksters. 

      2. When Hick wanted to dictate to the commission the circumstances of the Justice Center election (to make sure it was favorable to his proposal), he got it done.

        His disavowal of an ability to do anything about the Commission operation is pure BS.

        The appointed clerk oversees the day to day operations and the employees are most accountable to him.  To think that Hick couldn’t tell Vaden that he wanted folks to shape up is indeed myopic.

        Willis is an apologist for the Commission and Hick.

        1. It makes it clear that the Election Commission is independent of the mayor, the auditor, and the city council…a point that is sometimes forgotten by all of the above, especially the current Commissioners.

          It is not being an apologist to say the Commission, and the Commission alone, deserves all of the blame for the election nightmare. If either elected member of the Commission were to be foolish enough to run for re-election I would advocate for them not to be re-elected. As it turns out, I don’t believe either are running, which is also a good thing.

          As for the Justice Center question: the job of placing ballot questions before the voters is the City Council’s (or the people in case of initiatives). There is no argument from me that the Mayor exerted his influence to have the Council put that on the May ballot vs. the Nov one. The Commission does not pick the election dates, only runs the elections on the dates they are given.

          And as for the City Clerk: it is NOT his job to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Commission. That is the job of the Director of Elections. The Clerk may be called up to assist when the Director feels the need to do so, but the Clerk has no more imput into the operational issues than the elected Commissioners.

          There are many misconceptions out there who does what in city government. I am only pointing out the assigned roles.

          1. you missed the point of my earlier post. I’ve read the Charter and the RMC (yeah, not much of a life); actually wrote Charter amendments, not to mention a significant portion of the Code relating to my particular area of expertise. So, don’t need a clarification, thank you.

            My point still stands, if you’re able to–what was it they used to say?–think outside the box. Or, in this case, get a grip on the political realities extant outside the big black book encompassing Charter/Code.

    2. Sending someone over on Thursday five days before the election is not offering to help. It was a CYA move. Prior to November 2004 elections always ran smoothly in Denver. The change for the worse came when Hickenlooper’s Clerk proved himself unable to lead. There are two elected commissioners but only the Mayoral appointment is full time and in a real position to make things run smoothly.

    3. You pontificate all over this blog about the election commission.  It is patronizing the way you dismiss legtimate concerns and I, for one, will not vote for your candidate for the election commission …Karen M whatever

      It will be more of the same. we need to get the feds in here and NOW.

      As for Hick, he is doing just fine…he got the preschool tax…and a commission…and the big money  boys and girls are real pleased with him…he just needs to get his little unicycle out and when the organ grinders start playing…he will perform…

  6. The poor response to the latest storm shows that this Mayor
    has a mixed record. The Mayor has not been able to deliver on his promise to streamline the business permit process.
    No one can name even one new job his administration has worked to create. This despite trips to California with the Governor, peace treaties with Aurora and other steps that were taken with the promise that jobs would follow. On the other hand the Mayor’s cronies have all done very well. If, Wellington Webb had rewarded his pals the way this Mayor has the press would have crucified him.
    On the plus side crime is down and property values have stayed steady despite drops elsewhere in the State.

  7. First, none of us – the media included – would even know the details of Sequoia’s faulty software or have a detailed third-party analysis of all of DEC’s problems if it weren’t for Hickenlooper.  Instead of grandstanding like other politicians are doing around the election, the task force he’s leading is getting to the bottom of the DEC’s problems in order to come up with real solutions.  For obvious and understandable reasons, the Election Commission is an independent agency, but that hasn’t stopped from Hick from leading efforts to get them in shape.  And anyone who’s followed the saga in the papers knows that Hick’s offers of technology help to the Commission didn’t come at the last minute.  For months, the Election Commission refused help from the administration’s IT folks – citing the very independence of which they are so proud and claiming they had already performed the tests we now know they did not.  It’s amazing that the only people who aren’t being held accountable are the ELECTED election commissioners.  This has been a fascinating saga to watch.  If anything, it’s renewed my faith in Hickenlooper’s candor, leadership and desire to make things work – whether he’s responsible for them or not.

    Second, trying to connect the snowstorm with any kind of pattern here is beyond ridiculous.  Despite the newspapers trying to create drama here, there were no serious problems in Denver.  Didn’t anyone notice that all of the fatal weather-related accidents were outside of Denver?  The police told the papers there were no increases in regular accidents either.  Anytime it snows, drivers will be slighly inconvenienced – but if you stick to the major thoroughfares, drive slowly and carefully, it’s no big deal.  We live in Colorado; snow happens.  Those street crews deserve our thanks for their hard work.

    1. Let’s not mention that the Hick was, oh, maybe a year or two late in digging into this little imbroglio. The “grandstanding” is all Hick’s; that’s his style; that’s his MO–high profile assemblages of commissions, tasks forces, committees. This is a “consensus” mayor who is obviously averse to making his own decisions ’cause if a decision goes south on him, he can get out the finger, point at the assemblage and chant the mantra, “Ain’t my job, man.”

      Are you the official apologist for hizzoner, RealityCheck07? Just wondering. See, when Denver waits to start working snow removal/street treatment six hours after surrounding counties, one does have to wonder. Yeah, I know, snow removal/street treatment ain’t Hick’s job, man.

      “…fatal weather-related accidents were outside Denver…” Wow, that’s a rose the Hick can pin on his nose. 

      1. George, you are nothing if not predictable.  Have you ever done a post here that hasn’t blamed Hick for one of the world’s ills?  I’m just waiting for you to argue that the war in Iraq is somehow Hick’s fault.  Or maybe he’s somehow responsible for the fact there’s no cure for cancer yet.  Hmmm.  Maybe we can blame him for the Bronco’s questionable performance as of late.  The problem, George, is that your conspiracy theories sound like a broken record and your unwavering bias prevents anyone from taking your criticisms seriously.

        I don’t think I want to live in a city where a Mayor is the unilateral-acting, power-grabbing tyrant you claim to wish Hick was.  I personally like that he engages experts and the community in important issues.  When a politician starts to think he or his staff have all the answers, it’s a recipe for disaster. 

        1. Reality…  “…conspiracy theories…”??? Um, don’t think I’m into that nonsense. Just the facts. And, please don’t assume you’ve got the inside edge of who takes what seriously. You’re just one voice, kid, as am I. Chill.

    2. Guessing you’re a staffer or otherwise involved, but that’s okay.  Good work on the lack of car accidents by the way.  You bring up some good points and it’s nice to see somebody on here defending Hickenlooper.  Frankly, when this sort of thing happens, the sharks are just waiting in the wings to demonize an otherwise progressive and effective politician.  Everybody hates a winner . . .

      That being said, Hickenlooper would be better served by standing up and just taking public responsiblity for the fiasco.  He’s the ‘public’ figure here, and people look to the mayor’s office for leadership, not the DEC.  I think the problems encountered this year are more than fixable, and Hickenlooper is more than capable of taking care of the problem if he wants to, so why not go after it?  As somebody alreay mentioned, it will be a strong credential if he’s remembered as the guy that fixed the voting software rather than allowed it to be sub-standard.

      Also, although I resent the level of incompitence displayed by the DEC and all the voting problems, people are blowing this entirely out of proportion.  I know, I know, democracy has been subverted, voters disenfranchised, the fundamental rights bestowed on us have been negated by incompitence . . . etc.  But, unless somebody can prove that the slow and ridiculous voting significanlty changed any electoral outcomes or suppressed turnout, then its basically just a gripefest over a failed bureaucracy.  The real harm is that it’s embrassing for Colorado, but the level of rage and protest I keep hearing about this issue seems to be out of proportion.  It’s also funny how many people seem to be coming out of the woodwork with fangs bared against Hickenlooper when he appears weak on something; apparently they hate the guy but keep to themselves when everything is running smoothly in Denver.  When your critics don’t even try . . . now that’s power.

      1. I know, I know, democracy has been subverted, voters disenfranchised, the fundamental rights bestowed on us have been negated by incompitence . . . etc.  But, unless somebody can prove that the slow and ridiculous voting significanlty changed any electoral outcomes or suppressed turnout, then its basically just a gripefest over a failed bureaucracy.

        You said it better than I could. Of course, the sorry state of the software and the DEC’s IT is inexcusable, but you’re right on about a portion of the critics. Some people just aren’t happy unless they’re outraged.

      2. you really need spellcheck. Your spelling is, well, incomPETENT!

        “Coming out of the woodwork…” Nah, been outa that place for a long time, especially with regard to the Hick. Not sure when that “…running smoothly…” period was, but I’m sure you’ll inform.

        Suggest that making light–as you do–of the disenfranchisement of an estimated 18,000 voters is something you may have to atone for–if not in this life, the next. And, by the way, the closest race I see that might have come out much differently if the DISENFRANCHISED had actually been able to vote, would be the Hick’s preschool tax boondoggle. Hell, halve the number of disenfranchised, and this ill-advised, regressive tax would have failed by a much greated margin than  the the few votes that sent it over the top.

        Finally, “…good work on the lack of car accidents…” You’re kidding, right? You’re congratulating some mayoral lackey for pointing out that fatal accidents occurred outside the city limits rather than within is a good thing. Please, tell me you’re kidding… 

        1. Sorry about my poor spelling – I have no excuse and I take responserbilitie.  I suppose that invalidates all my comments.

          So far as my comments about the ‘good work’ on the car accident situation – I was being entirely facetious.  That is to say, I didn’t intend to be taken seriously, which I believe most people picked up on.  You may be too embroiled in your hatred of Hickenlooper to have noticed as much.

          That being said – please show some kind of proof that the voter problems actually altered an electoral outcome, and then relate this to Hickenlooper’s office having failed to perform one of their prescribed duties.  On that note, you may be a vocal critic of Hickenlooper elsewhere, but I read this blog fairly regularly, and frankly I haven’t seen you posting about Hickenlooper until this particular thread where he’s come under fire.

          As I said before, you’re a damn good politician if people only jump in with attacks when you’re already on the mat.  Hickenlooper will rebound from with this full strength, and judging from his record, I would bet that he’ll get things straightened out as well.  You, on the other hand, will have to be satisfied with railing against the guy on blogs.  Doesn’t even seem fair . . .

      3. You’re right.  Even though the Denver Charter gives the mayor no authority over the Election Commission, I’ve seen him on the news saying he will take responsibility for fixing the problem.  Sounds like strong leadership to me.  The irony is that some of the proposed “charter reform” solutions would make the Election Commission even more independent and isolated than they already are – making future help from the administration even more difficult.

        1. I looked into this and asked around as well; Hick is taking responsibility and seems to be devoted to fixing the problem.  As you point out, he has limited ability to do so, but he’s coming through with some leadership and accountability.

          Ironically, if he has a hand in helping reform the voting system technology, we’ll probably never hear about it.  I highly doubt the closet ‘Hick-haters’ will pipe in to to contritely praise the guy for helping get things back on track when it happens.

  8. The previous post was in response to Ruby Blue…

    As for you, George, you’re right that it is ironic that the ballot item most affected by Denver’s voting problems was the preschool initiative.  But you are wrong on how it was affected.  It would have won by a much more significant margin if more people had been able to stay in line to vote.  The very folks who had to get out of line to get back to work or to their kids were the very folks supporting the preschool initiative.

    1. The people I saw leaving the lines were old and infirm….the one demographic group which ususally votes “no” on tax increases are seniors. They also vote absentee…and those were the ballots which the scanners should have read easily and accurately and did not. 

      Auditor Gallagher has been out front with the problems with the DEC for months.  Hick is a latecomer. Citizens know about the DEC in spite of Hick, not because of him.

      Ruby Blue, et. al…LOOK.  There is NO way to prove fraud in this election because there is NO way to do an accurate recount. You do understand that don’t you?  The best which can be done is a careful, independent audit to determine if the procedures in place to protect the integrity of the vote and the rights of the voters were followed. What we do know is that those procedures were inadequate and that processes to protect the paper ballots were violated.

      RealityCheck07…you are throwing out a lot of assumptions here…stating them as fact.  I don’t like that.  I hope to hell you are NOT on a public payroll someplace.

      1. I never suggested that Hickenlooper spearheaded the call to arms about the voting problems – in fact my original post asked that he take a greater roll in claiming responsiblity for the problems.

        Also, criticizing RealityCheck07 for making assumptions is a bit hypocritical, as your own arguement is based on the fact that “you saw” seniors bowing out of the lines.  Sorry, but that’s a pretty sweeping extrapolation based on what you personally observed at one location in a limited timeframe.

        You’re right in pointing out that the argument I make about proving the effects of voter disenfranchisement is basically unprovable, but I would defend it on the basis that I feel the facts of the matter indicate that it’s pretty hard to indict Hickenlooper of any real wrongdoing in the matter, and the legislative outcomes were likely unaltered by the crappy voting technology.

        On that note, you seem to be on the ‘blame Hick’ bandwagon – but really, is he the sole culprit here?  The system failed on a large scale in this scenario, and it seems odd to me that people are taking the opportunity to burn Hickenlooper exclusively.  I think there’s a substantial amount of facts to show that it wasn’t something that he had a huge degree of control over, and he’s also publicly taken a measure of responsiblity for the failures – what more do people want?

        Show me that voting results were truly compromised – or leave it alone.  As you pointed out, this is hard to support, but that also lends credence to the statement.  If there were obvious indicators of altered vote outcomes, then the criticism would be much louder and broader than a few folks shouting “Hick dropped the ball!”  I just can’t help but smell critical opportunism here, and the lack of emphasis on institutional screw-ups in favor of attacking Hickenlooper here just screams subjective agenda.

        1. The assertion was that more people who would have voted for the preschool tax left the lines…my observation was that was not true..  My argument is that there is no way to verify that this election was safe from fraud.

          The auditor is Gallagher. Why do you leave him out? He did his job.  I am not a Hickenlooper fanatic.  I think he had control over his appointed Clerk and should have done better. But don’t personalize this.  I think this was a failed election. i think the commissioners should resign. I think we need court ordered oversight. I resist the attempts to suggest that everything is really okay, after all…let’s make “nice nice.”

  9. When Rosemary Rodriguez was the County Clerk elections ran smoothly. This notion that the Elections Board is totally independent is just plain silly. There were major election problems in November 2004 and those problems continued in August and November of 2006. The problem is with the County Clerk that the Mayor appointed and refused to remove. The problem rests at the door of the Mayor and nowhere else

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