Non-profit groups demand “check box” voter fix today

Six organizations, including several that conducted voter registration drives in minority communities, have joined the cry for Secretary of State Mike Coffman to accept incomplete voter registrations.

Coffman is in the hot seat this week, with building pressure from Gov. Bill Ritter and voting rights groups like Colorado Common Cause and the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado. As many as 10,000 voter registration applications have been rejected by county clerks across the state because of the so-called “check box” problem, in which would-be voters without Colorado ID entered the last four digits of their Social Security numbers but neglected to check a box indicating as much on their registration forms.

Today at noon, representatives from the 9 to 5 National Association of Working Women, Community Voters Project, Latina Initiative, Mi Familia Vota Civic Participation Campaign, New Era Colorado and the Service Employees International Union will gather outside of the secretary of state’s office at 1700 Broadway in Denver to demand that Coffman accept the registrations.

The groups claim that the secretary of state’s voter registration instructions were unclear on the “check box” issue from the start, a complaint echoed by voting experts.

Comments are closed.