Organizations mobilize amid fears of voting fraud
By Diane Carman
Denver Post Columnist

Along with endless polls, campaign swings by presidential candidates and a lot of insulting political ads, our status as a potential swing state could bring something else to Colorado this election year: voting fraud.

For some hot-blooded partisans, the urge to manipulate elections can be irresistible. And the mess in Florida in 2000 provided all sorts of cynical ideas.

So an array of nonpartisan democratic-action organizations are mobilizing to inform voters of their rights, monitor polling places and attempt to protect the integrity of the election process in a year when the decision could come down to a handful of votes.

One of the organizations, the Election Protection Program of the People for the American Way Foundation, has targeted Colorado.

"Colorado's status as a purple state means there will be a ton of voter registration projects," said Priscilla Ring, spokeswoman for the program. "And new voters don't necessarily know where or how to vote."

They're easily discouraged. They go home if they're in line when the polls close. They misread ballots or believe people who suggest they're not qualified to vote.

This year, problems already have emerged.

In Texas at historically black Prairie View A&M University, the district attorney was accused of trying to disenfranchise voters by saying that college students were not permanent residents and therefore not eligible to vote. But when the NAACP and several other organizations filed suit, Texas Secretary of State Geoffrey Connor intervened, saying the DA was wrong. He called the effect of the DA's actions on new voters "chilling."

Meanwhile, in Florida, controversy has erupted once again over the effort to purge voter registration lists of the names of convicted felons (who are not eligible to vote in that state). Because of what Gov. Jeb Bush called a "mistake," most Hispanic felons remained eligible to vote, while the names of black felons were purged. Since the Cuban-American community is a solidly Republican voting bloc, the move drew charges of fraud from Florida Democrats.

Here in Colorado, Evelyn Rojo said the biggest problem could be the new federal requirement that voters provide specific forms of identification at polling places. "There are many misunderstandings about that," said Rojo, the state coordinator for the Election Protection Program.

And, she said, the process for provisional voting is even more confusing.

"The main thing is we want to have a copy of the Voters' Bill of Rights in people's hands when they enter the polling place," she said, referring to a pamphlet put out by her group. "They need to know their rights."

The informational pamphlet will explain Colorado's election laws and provide a number to call to report problems and seek free legal advice.

Ben Prochazka, field organizer for the New Voter Project in Colorado, said members of his group also will be doing "tons of poll-watching."

They are targeting 18- to 24-year-olds for get-out-the-vote campaigns. They have registered about 15,000 young voters since January, and plan to enroll 40,000 more for the Nov. 2 election. They're hitting high schools, universities, rock concerts and businesses that hire lots of young people.

"Then on Election Day we're going to make sure voters' rights are respected," he said.

While most of the voter drives are being done by traditional civic and political groups with pamphleting, polite phone soliciting and door-to-door canvassing, some campaigns are more unorthodox. The punk vote movement is easily the most audacious of all.

One punk voter group from Oregon states its slogan simply on T-shirts sold at concerts and head shops. It's: "Vote (noun form of very bad word used on TV by the vice president)."

Even in Florida, I'm guessing nobody will be messing with them.