Voters file suit over privacy

Serial numbers on ballots violate state law, they say

By Ryan Morgan, Boulder Daily Camera Staff Writer
October 22, 2004

A group of voters has filed a lawsuit against Boulder County election officials, accusing them of violating the state's Constitution by printing serial numbers and bar codes on ballots.

The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is Dean Schooler, a Boulder resident who refused to vote in the August primary because of the serial number. Colorado's Constitution requires that "no ballots shall be marked in any way whereby the ballot can be identified as the ballot of the person casting it."

  
Boulder County's ballots bear sequential numbers that the county's computer system uses to make sure that ballots aren't duplicated or counted twice. Ballots in the state's other counties bear serial numbers, but state law requires those numbers to be printed on detachable stubs that voters remove before casting their ballots.

State law does make an exception to the stub requirement when election officials can match up the number of ballots they've issued with the number actually cast, and "so long as secrecy in voting is protected."

County officials say their system does preserve privacy, because the system doesn't match individual voters to the serial number that's printed on their ballots.

"The serial number that is the focus of the suit is used for auditing purposes only," county spokesman Jim Burrus said in a written statement. "There is no way to tie that number to a particular voter; it is not recorded anywhere and it cannot be used to learn how a particular person voted."

EMERGENCY HEARING

District Court Judge Morris W. Sandstead Jr. has scheduled an emergency hearing on the ballot-privacy lawsuit for 1:30 p.m. Monday in Courtroom K of the Boulder County Justice Center.
The statement also quoted Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Linda Salas, who said the serial numbers are vital in making sure voters don't submit multiple copies of their ballots.

"There is no way to link the serial number on our ballots to an individual voter," she said. "They are there to help us locate problems and as added insurance against vote fraud."

But Robert Corry, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the fact that the number is unique still makes it much easier for mischief to occur.

Corry said the election judge handing out the ballot, for example, could memorize a ballot's serial number as it's handed to a voter, and could use that information to violate the secret ballot.

"There are people with photographic memories, people who have a head for numbers," he said.

The numbers also could make it easier for people to sell their votes, Corry said. A voter would just have to memorize the serial number on his or her ballot, which could then be retrieved after the election.

"If everything works smoothly, then the number is difficult to trace," Corry said. "If every single person is honest and competent, it's not a problem. But there is human error. This makes it easier for corruption to occur."

A Boulder judge will hear the case Monday. The plaintiffs are three Republicans, two Democrats and one Libertarian.

Corry said the group wants the county to print ballots for the election that don't have serial numbers or bar codes. If the judge declines, Corry said, the group will ask for permission to tell voters to scratch out those markings on their ballots before they're cast.

Right now, it's illegal to give that advice, he said.

The voting machines would spit those ballots out, but the votes would be recopied manually, preserving privacy, Corry said.

Corry acknowledged that removing the serial numbers could make counting ballots more difficult.

"This is almost two weeks before the election. That's plenty of time for them to do the right thing," he said. "It is slightly inconvenient for them, but there are some things more important than convenience, and the value of a secret ballot is so important to our system of government that maybe they need to work a few extra hours to get this done."

Corry and his wife, Jessica Peck Corry, are affiliated with the libertarian-oriented Independence Institute, a Golden-based think tank. She is director of the Institute's "campus accountability project," which combats liberal bias on college campuses, and he is the project's counsel, according to the Institute's Web site.

Jessica Peck Corry, a Republican, is running for the state Senate in District 19 in Jefferson County against Democratic incumbent Sen. Sue Windels.