Denver’s AWOL mail-in ballots reappear

The case of the absent ballots is over. A Denver mail facility reportedly received a batch of about 18,000 mail-in ballots on Monday that had previously gone unaccounted for. But while Denver’s mail-in voters can rest easy with their ballots on the way, they’ll have to scramble to get them in on time.

Colorado Springs halts homeless sweeps

Colorado Springs mayor Lionel Rivera issued a moratorium on homeless camp cleanups last week, saying he wants the city to explore the ethical and legal issues surrounding the practice, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Voting rights group sues Colorado secretary of state over purges

On Saturday, the Advancement Project, a national voter protection organization, filed suit against Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman for his alleged illegal purge of tens of thousands of voters across the state.

Clinton promotes Obama, early voting at Aurora rally

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton stumped for Barack Obama in Aurora this afternoon, rallying a crowd of more than 1,000 people who traveled from around the Denver metro area to see her.

Flanked by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and U.S. Senator Ken Salazar, Clinton spoke at a park adjacent to the University of Colorado Hospital and a Colfax Avenue Checker Auto Parts store at 5 p.m.. She has made dozens of similar stops for her former rival in recent weeks.

Hickenlooper robocall: “I really hate robocalls…”

There are good robocalls and there are bad robocalls. And then there are robocalls that pretend not to be robocalls.

Colorado election snafu roundup: Clerks resort to robocalls to fix bad registrations

The clock is ticking down until Colorado’s big day. And with the John McCain campaign all but pulling out of the state as Barack Obama pushes forward, the result of the November election in Colorado may be coming into focus.

Unfortunately, when it comes to election administration in Colorado, things are getting muddier and muddier by the day. In our election bungle roundup last week, we guided you through the week’s most important news: national groups slamming Secretary of State Mike Coffman on his voter registration policy, Attorney General John Suthers backing Coffman in his recent voter purge, El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink further disenfranchising student voters, and more. Read on to for the latest foul-ups:

Veterans group sues Colorado Springs contractor for raids on the homeless

A veterans group claims that a Colorado Springs organization has raided homeless camps, trashing VA paperwork, medication, photos, identification and even service medals belonging to homeless veterans.

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Veterans Alliance filed suit in federal court this week, claiming that Keep Colorado Springs Beautiful violated the homeless veterans’ civil rights. KCSB focuses on litter clean up, but also works with police officers to identify homeless camps and ask the residents to leave before cleaning up. The organization has received $45,000 in city funds.

Effort helps eligible Colorado inmates vote from jail

Hundreds of thousands of Colorado voters are sending their mail-in ballots back to county clerks this week, and among them are several dozen jail inmates who successfully registered to vote this year.

The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition recently launched a vigorous vote-from-jail campaign. And while some counties have been more receptive than others, in Denver alone the number of voting inmates quadrupled from 20 people in 2004 to 80 this year.

Colorado coaches speak out against Amendment 46

Three Division One basketball coaches in Colorado publicly opposed Amendment 46 on Wednesday, saying that the so-called Colorado Civil Rights Initiative will diminish diversity at their institutions.

University of Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik, Colorado State University coach Tim Miles and University of Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle decried the measure, which will banish public affirmative action programs across the state.

Counties get creative on ‘check box’ flaw on voter registration applications

With Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman unwilling to budge on incomplete voter registrations, several counties across the state have come up with partial resolutions on their own.

The ever-evolving “check box” drama has to do with the state’s new voter registration form. Applicants without a state ID or a driver’s license must indicate as much by checking a box and then giving the last four digits of their social security numbers. But at least 6,700 new would-be voters–and as many as 10,000 by one estimate — neglected to check the box. Several thousand of these individuals have since cured their applications, but many more remain barred from voter rolls.