Investigation of Department of State Employee Concluded; State Auditor to Conduct Own Independent Investigation

Elections Division Worker Violated Two State Personnel Rules; Will Receive an Official Corrective Action

Denver, May 9, 2007 – The Department of State today concluded an investigation into allegations of wrong-doing brought against Elections Division employee Daniel Kopelman.

The results of the investigation show that during his employment with the Department of State, Kopelman:

• Did not have access to the Department of State’s voter registration data;
• Did not purchase voter registration data from the Secretary of State’s office while an employee of the Department of State;
• Did not sell voter registration data.

Kopelman provided business records for his company Political Live Wires that show his company has not sold voter registration data to any third party since Kopelman became an employee of the Department of State on January 9, 2007.

However, the investigation did find that Kopelman violated two provisions of State Personnel Rules:

• Engaging in outside employment without gaining permission from his state employer (the Department of State) – a violation of State Personnel Board Rule 1-13;
• Conducting activities that are “incompatible” with his state employment, namely hosting a partisan website while working in the Elections Division of the Department of State – a violation of State Personnel Board Rule 1-14.

As a result of the investigation’s findings, the Department of State has taken the following action:

• Kopelman has been moved out of the Elections Division and now reports directly to the Chief Information Officer in the Department’s Information Technology Division;
• While Kopelman previously held a supervisory position within the Department of State, he will no longer supervise other employees of the Department;
• Kopelman has received a reduction in salary in the amount of $9,240 annually.

Also, a corrective action will be added to Kopelman’s permanent personnel record prohibiting him from engaging in any outside business, unless first receiving written authorization from his state employer, pursuant to State Personnel Board Rule 1-13, and from operating a political website or distributing any formal, mass political communications.

In addition, Kopelman will no longer play a role in the State’s re-certification of electronic voting systems, which is handled within the Department’s Elections Division. However, as the investigation found no wrong-doing in terms of inappropriate access to voter registration data within the Department of State, Kopelman will continue working, under the supervision of the Department’s Chief Information Officer, on the Statewide Voter Registration System.

Also today, at the Secretary of State’s request, the Colorado State Auditor’s office agreed to conduct an investigation into the allegations against Kopelman. The State Auditor is an independent, third party agency.

Auditor Sally Symanski issued the following statement today: “We have an audit in progress on the Help America Vote Act at the Office of the Secretary of State, and we will be incorporating additional procedures to address the Secretary's request.”