Buescher, Clerks and Speaker continue election discussion

Despite partisan wrangling, cost savings and efficiencies remain focus

Denver, April 7, 2010 – Today, representatives of the Colorado County Clerks Association, Secretary of State Bernie Buescher and House Speaker Terrance Carroll continued discussions to identify potential efficiencies and cost savings for future elections.

“Throughout the past year traveling to many of the county clerks’ offices, the most often repeated concern I hear is the rising costs of elections and shrinking county budgets,” Buescher said. “My aim in working with the county clerks and Speaker Carroll is to streamline some of our election processes to generate cost savings for the counties, while preserving the accessibility and security of our present system.”

Although an initial draft has been widely circulated, details of any potential legislation remain in the discussion phase. Many county clerks throughout the state support the concept of all-mail voting in even-year elections, citing a savings of as much as 65% compared to polling place elections.

“These are challenging economic times for the state and counties, and that forces many of us to review our spending practices,” said Douglas County Clerk Jack Arrowsmith. “The majority of our voters have already requested a mail ballot and most counties hold all mail elections in odd-years. This is a practical solution that saves taxpayers money.”

Also, among the topics of conversation, involves shrinking the window for voters to register before election day. Currently, state law requires citizens to register more than 29 days before the election.

“The 29-day voter registration timeline was implemented based on a paper system, not the state’s real-time statewide system,” said Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall. “We’re continuing to discuss modern day options that continue to enfranchise voters while also preserving the strict safeguards already in place preventing voter fraud.”

Parties said the conversations will continue through the end of the week and no decision has been made on whether a bill will be introduced this session.