Colorado, Washington Face Big VBM Decisions

The Colorado state Legislature, which opened its 120-day session last week, is likely to decide in the near future whether the state will move to an all-mail ballot by the time of the August primary and November general elections.

And in Washington state, where an increasing number of counties have adopted all-mail voting, its most populous county -- King County, with 900,000 voters -- may put off a move to all-mail elections until 2009

The Colorado Legislature is likely to see bills concerning the implementation of all-mail voting during the first two weeks of the session, the Fort Collins Colorodan says.

The combination of the Colorado Secretary of State's decertification of three of four electronic voting systems used throughout the state and a new statewide voter registration system that is not ready has created a "state of emergency" over the conduct of elections, according to Larimer County's Clerk, its top voting official. (For background on the state's election mess, see my earlier post.)

The Colorado County Clerks Association and some legislative leaders are pushing for a law allowing an all-mail election for 2008, but the proposal faces stiff opposition from local voting activists and some clerks, most notably Denver elections officials, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

Even proponents of voting-by-mail wonder whether the state could be successfully up-and-running with an all-mail voting system by late summer, or whether the situation could turn out giving VBM a black eye.

Meanwhile, in Washington state, its most populous county -- King County, with 900,000 voters -- may put off a move to all-mail elections until 2009, because of delays in obtaining high-volume tabulation equipment, the Seattle Times reports. The County Council voted in 2006 to switch to all-mail voting in 2007 or 2008, but only after an election superintendent is hired, the elections office completes a "culture change" and management-training program, and the council adopts a plan for ballot drop boxes and regional voting centers. The superintendent position is vacant, and a recruitment process is under way.