On April 13, the news story, “Dave Woodruff claims victory in Durango City Council election recount,” says that our county clerk and her staff were gratified to see that everyone behaved, and no one heard “groundless accusations of election or voter fraud.” In almost every article this paper has published regarding election integrity, the word “groundless” is the adjective of choice.
Let’s take a look at that word. In many minds, “groundless” should be replaced with “questioned.” There are questions when we read about Osage County in Missouri moving away from the machines to go back to 100% paper, hand-counted ballots in all of their elections. Why do you suppose that is?
There are questions when we remember that our Colorado secretary of state sent over 30,000 voter registrations to non-citizens. And we question too, the practice of ballot harvesting here in Colorado. It is legal in this state to harvest up to 10 ballots. Why is it that Florida made possession of more than two voter ballots a felony with a $50,000 fine and up to five years in prison? Groundless would not be the word when we read about the mess in Arizona with that last governor’s race.
Yes, our county clerk and her staff have gone to great lengths to try and ensure the lack of voter fraud here. They are to be commended. But know that from the national elections on down, questions do remain in many minds about ensuring the integrity of our vote.
Jo Fusco
Durango
