Interested to learn how former CEOs of bankrupt companies and former Bush Administration Pentagon appointees are spending their recession in the Rocky Mountains? Take a look at some of this material.

The self appointed “watch dogs” of local politics were proven to have fleas lately when a public records request turned up evidence to suggest misuse of public funds to overturn a local election.

The documents are stored in two files on File Factory. The first is at http://www.filefactory.com/file/a17c1f0/n/jack_…. The second is at http://www.filefactory.com/file/a1d9bg6/n/essen….

The first is a comprehensive file including all the documents with the exception of the “essential” emails. These “essential” emails (the most blatant examples of wrong-doing) are in the second file.

The wrong-doing begins in earnest on August 22, 2009 with and email from Marks to Elizabeth Milias “are you and Chris willing to use your authority?”

Interested to learn how former CEOs of bankrupt companies and former Bush Administration Pentagon appointees are spending their recession in the Rocky Mountains? Take a look at some of this material.

The self appointed “watch dogs” of local politics were proven to have fleas lately when a public records request turned up evidence to suggest misuse of public funds to overturn a local election.

The documents are stored in two files on File Factory. The first is at http://www.filefactory.com/file/a17c1f0/n/jack_…. The second is at http://www.filefactory.com/file/a1d9bg6/n/essen….

The first is a comprehensive file including all the documents with the exception of the “essential” emails. These “essential” emails (the most blatant examples of wrong-doing) are in the second file.

The wrong-doing begins in earnest on August 22, 2009 with and email from Marks to Elizabeth Milias “are you and Chris willing to use your authority?”

Interested to learn how former CEOs of bankrupt companies and former Bush Administration Pentagon appointees are spending their recession in the Rocky Mountains? Take a look at some of this material.

The self appointed “watch dogs” of local politics were proven to have fleas lately when a public records request turned up evidence to suggest misuse of public funds to overturn a local election.

The documents are stored in two files on File Factory. The first is at http://www.filefactory.com/file/a17c1f0/n/jack_…. The second is at http://www.filefactory.com/file/a1d9bg6/n/essen….

The first is a comprehensive file including all the documents with the exception of the “essential” emails. These “essential” emails (the most blatant examples of wrong-doing) are in the second file.

The wrong-doing begins in earnest on August 22, 2009 with and email from Marks to Elizabeth Milias “are you and Chris willing to use your authority?”

The May 5 Aspen election was historic in two respects- the first Colorado public election to be held with Instant Runoff Voting, but also the first election in the USA where both individual ballot interpretations were made public and a CD was created of digital images of ballots which was not made public.

The oversight which naturally came along with these historic innovations also led to the discovery of a substantial number of mistakes made in election process, or items much in need of reform. An effort to review the entire election intended to educate the Secretary of State and legislators as well as other election officials is underway, but has met with resistance.

The suit which Marilyn Marks is pursuing against the city is entirely to fulfill the natural transparency which a single ballot auditable election would allow- by making public the already recorded and displayed in public images of the ballots. There is a very principled argument in favor of this transparency which has not swayed the local officials, who claim that law prevents the release.

The outcome of the law suit will be very valuable to elections in Colorado by exposing the arguments for and against release of anonymous ballot images after an election. There is a site where this topic is being followed specifically: http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com.

Meanwhile a concerted effort is underway to demonize the runner-up in the election who is pursuing these election reforms and additional transparency. The gist of the accusation is that this failed candidate is only pursuing a personal agenda as a “sore loser”. This is far from the truth. Meanwhile copious emails which were made between citizens unaware of possible open meetings violations (having never been informed of the possibility) are now being sifted for suggestions of wrong doing which process resembles a witch hunt.

This story is well on its way to becoming an opera of epic proportions.

Harvie Branscomb
Colorado Voter Group