In the story in The Durango Herald on Saturday with the headline “Clerks see rise in records request,” the statement in paragraph four is incorrect. “Cast vote records are electronic records that show how every individual voted in an election.” That is incorrect. The cast vote records show how each ballot has been marked, for example, “voted.” But there is no connection between the ballot record and the name of any individual.
I have worked in the county clerk’s office as an election judge for eight or more years. There is no way to tie a specific tallied ballot to an individual. Further, the mail ballot system of voting in Colorado is one of the most secure and fraud-free systems of voting in existence. If people have concerns, they should ask the La Plata County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee for a tour during the vote processing to see for themselves.
Frank (Buck) Skillen
Durango
