Coffman Removes Montrose County From State’s Watch List

Clerk recognized for commitment to correcting prior deficiencies

Denver, July 24, 2008 – Today Secretary of State Mike Coffman announced that Montrose County has been removed from the state’s Election Watch List after correcting deficiencies following the 2006 General Election. After receiving a request for removal from the Montrose County Board of Commissioners and County Clerk and Recorder Fran Long, Coffman agreed that Montrose County had overcome the prior issues.

“Through her cooperation and commitment to improve elections in Montrose County, Clerk Long has laid the groundwork for well-managed elections in 2008,” said Coffman. “I am very pleased and impressed with the progress of Long and her staff and am proud to remove the county from the watch list.”

In the letter to Clerk Long, Coffman cited security improvements and increased staffing as significant remedies to previous concerns. The letter also highlighted other improvements including:

• Training and cross training on the voter registration database, voting equipment, and general duties in the Election Office;
• Increase in staff at both the main Election Office and the remote office;
• A plan for ensuring acceptable wait times for voters to include redefined precinct boundaries, combined polling locations, and paper ballots at each polling location; and
• New communication procedures to ensure contact with county employees in the event of an emergency or technological issue.

Established in 2007, Coffman developed the state’s Election Watch List program to help restore confidence of voters in the counties that experienced significant problems during the 2006 election. The announcement comes the same day as Routt County’s removal from the Election Watch List.