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September 05, 2008 08:38 PM UTC

Uh, Who's Going to Count the Ballots?

  • 35 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

As the Rocky Mountain News reports:

The director of elections at the secretary of state’s office resigned suddenly Thursday.

The departure of Holly Lowder, former Alamosa County clerk, comes two months before what is expected to be one of the biggest elections in recent Colorado history. Lowder’s work centered on the implementation of the new statewide voter registration system, said Richard Coolidge, spokesman for the agency.

Lowder could not be reached for comment.

The secretary of state’s office oversees statewide elections and lost two other employees in the elections division this summer. In June, two employees who handled testing and certification of voting equipment left to work for the El Paso County clerk’s office. In addition, Secretary of State Mike Coffman has been running for the 6th Congressional District seat. He won the primary last month and faces a Democratic opponent in November.

Coolidge would not give details on why Lowder stepped down. He said Thursday was her last day. She was hired by former Secretary of State Gigi Dennis and had worked in that position since 2006.

Deputy elections director Wayne Munster will take up Lowder’s duties through the November election, Coolidge said.

With less than two months to go until Election Day, it’s not okay for Coffman’s spokesman to refuse to elaborate on why THE DIRECTOR OF FREAKIN’ ELECTIONS just up and left. What the hell is going on?

Comments

35 thoughts on “Uh, Who’s Going to Count the Ballots?

    1. If I had to guess, concerns about the statewide database rollout the feds forced states to do this year (of all years!) may have something to do with it.

      Doubt there’s a scandal here, although nice wishful thinking.

      OR, it could be that since her boss will be leaving soon, Ms. Lowder figured (as with many people in the SOS’s office) that it is high time to find a new job since the new boss is coming to town.

        1. Mr. Munster (whose name invokes all kind of schoolyard monikers) should be able to handle it.  Most of the work is done in the counties anyway.

          The public may have a right to know but I doubt the public gives a hoot.

        2. It seems odd to make such a sudden departure with no public reason for it. It’s probably a boring reason, but we should know what made her decide to jump ship from the SOS office with less than 60 days to go.

      1.    I hate to be so blunt about this, but given the choice between having Eng in the U.S. House and having Joan Fitz-Gerald (or Andrew Romanoff) as Sec. of State, I’m rooting for J.F.G. (or A.R.)

          And the only way that happens is if Coffman wins in Nov.

        1. You can go ahead and wish for it guilt free. It would be different if we were talking better than snowballs chance in hell for Eng.  Truth told, with the excitement over Obama and great shots for Udall and Markey, it’s hard for volunteers and donors not to feel they are just going through the motions for Eng.

  1. Does that mean she’s going to join her former boss in Washington on his staff come ’09?

    And I think Hank Eng is a great guy, but he has less of a shot at winning CD-6 than Bob Barr has of claiming the White House.

      1. Sudden resignations with no comment rarely  mean something good.  We need to know what this means and  whether it’s about anything that should concern us as voters.  The deputy is  probably  up to speed. Maybe it’s just some personal or family matter that Lowder wants some breathing space on but an explanation will have to come out sometime soon.

        For instance if Lowder is resigning because she sees big problems, perhaps hasn’t been listened to and doesn’t want to be there when it hits the fan.  An explanation  is needed to end imaginative speculation like that before everyone freaks out. Unless, of course , we SHOULD be freaking out.

  2. Most everyone agrees the SoS’s office is going to change hands and parties this winter. I suspect a few people are looking for new work ahead of that change over.

    As for why the “no comment”, Lowder’s leaving is a personnel matter and should be treated with discretion. She is not an elected official so her reasons for leaving are not the public’s concern. It was appropriate to make public that such a high level office was vacated, but not necessarily the reason.  

      1. It was a public sector job, and the taxpayers have a right to know if the reasons she left had anything to do with the public trust.

        If they want to say that she left for “personal reasons” then fine, but if there was something else they should let us know.

        “Not a shred of evidence” just means that government employees are stonewalling. It is bullshit to say that until public officials admit wrongdoing nobody can speculate on what they are concealing. Maybe, even probably, this is nothing – but they should let us know if it is or not.

        Ok: “We have no comment, because it is a personal matter.”

        Not Ok: “We have no comment, because we don’t feel like telling you whether it is personal or something relevant to the operation of your elections.”

        1. She was not a political appointee.  She has the same right of privacy as you or me.

          Read anything you want into her departure, but you have no right to any more information than you would have if she worked in any other job.

          Speculate away.  But you’re still just speculating.

          1. The City Manager in most cities in Colorado is not a political appointee. But if they leave suddenly, it is reasonable to ask why.

            On the flip side, someone who drives a snowplow for the state should be treated like a private citizen.

            The rest fall between those two extremes. Heading up such a critical position that has had so many problems – I think it is reasonable to ask why she’s leaving.

  3. if she was unhappy that requests from around the state for the SoS to participate in warranted recounts wasn’t part of it. All the responses to her and to Coffman have been answered negatively, at the latest possible time, and by Wayne Munster.

  4. Colorado elections director resigns amid inquiry

    The abrupt resignation Thursday of a top elections official at the secretary of state’s office happened in the midst of a watchdog group’s investigation into her relationship with a local businessman who has contracts with that office.

    Holly Lowder, 66, resigned from her post as elections director two months before what is expected to be one of the biggest elections in recent Colorado history. She held that job since 2006. Before that, Lowder served as Alamosa County clerk for about 25 years.

    Colorado Ethics Watch had been pursuing documents from the state regarding Lowder’s ties to John Paulsen.

    Paulsen, 59, operates a software company called LEDS, LLC from his home in Castle Rock, records show. LEDS has installed voter databases in more than 30 counties and recently got two contracts worth almost $184,000 with the secretary of state’s office for data work related to the current election season.

    Records show that Lowder recently lived at a Cherokee Street home in Denver that is owned by Paulsen.

    . . . .

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c

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