October 23, 2008 12:07 AM UTC

Incompetance or Malice: State voter registration training manual contradicts state law

• 4 Comments
• by: Danny the Red (hair)

The training manual produced by the Colorado secretary of state’s office for this year’s voter registration drives erroneously indicated that Social Security numbers would serve as adequate identification in all instances when would-be voters filled out voter registration forms.

The manual contradicts Colorado law, which states that a Social Security number will work as identification only if a potential registrant lacks better documentation in the form of a Colorado driver’s license or a Department of Revenue ID.

That point, however, is mentioned nowhere in the 12-page manual

http://coloradostatesman.com/c…

Mike Coffman is either incompetent or engaged in fraud.

According to several Colorado voter registration companies who held a press conference on Thursday in front of the secretary of state’s office, however, Department of State training was inaccurate in several ways. As a direct result, they say, nearly 6,500 Coloradans filled out registration forms improperly.

A slew of voting rights groups and about 30 voters affected by the policies called for the secretary of state’s office to allow all voters who improperly filled out the form to be reinstated to voter rolls because of the alleged training errors.

Any news on lawsuits?

The situation was complicated further by a law implemented in December. The new law required voters who had neither a driver’s license nor a Department of Revenue ID to confirm that by checking a box on the registration form. Only those who checked the box would be able to substitute a Social Security number as ID – something that many of the nearly 6,500 disqualified voters apparently failed to do.

Dan Willis alerted us to this problem.

Although the federal Help America Vote Act and Colorado law do create a hierarchy in terms of identification numbers, Common Cause argued, there is “no legal requirement for voters to check a box or even expressly indicate that they do not have state-issued identifying numbers.”

Federal law also does not require such a provision. In fact, federal voter registration forms are being accepted by the state – even though they don’t contain a “check box” on them to differentiate between Social Security and drivers’ license numbers.

Furthermore, the coalition of voting rights groups argues, the state law contradicts federal law, which says that a voter cannot be stricken from the rolls if an “error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under state law to vote in such an election.”

Here is the real problem.  The enforcement of the letter of the law is questionable since Colorado law conflicts with federal law, but when combined with the improper training provided the Secretary of State–it seems to be a coordinated attempt to disenfranchise voting blocks that would lean toward Obama.

Mike Coffman needs to take responsibility for the errors of his office in preperation of training materials or it will be clear that the misleading training manuel wasn’t created in error, but rather as a coordinated plan to disenfranchise voters.  If Coffman were to make an attempt to fulfill the intent of citizens who filled out forms based improper information from his office instead of compounding his error in the preparation of the training manual by disenfranchising voters Secretary Coffman’s integrity would remain intact IMO.  Otherwise, where lies honor Major?  Is disenfranchising voters what you did in Iraq?