Routt County faces mail ballot issues

A coding error in the Routt County Clerk and Recorder’s Office means the 5,773 ballots mailed to voters before Oct. 19 will not be recognized by election databases and will have to be replicated by election judges who will work in teams of four under video camera surveillance.

Clerk and Recorder Kay Weinland said during a news conference this morning that she and her staff realized the problem Oct. 13 and spent the rest of the week and weekend working with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office to try and find a solution. The mistake could cost the county as much as $25,000.

The security of election database encryption meant no such solution could be found.

So all of the 5,773 ballots mailed to all voters who had requested mail-in ballots no longer will be recognized by the election database.

Every completed ballot already mailed back to the county — about 500, Weinland said — will be counted for the election. But it will be copied onto a new ballot first.   – More -