Coffman responds to NY Times article inaccuracies

Actual numbers in Colorado well below article’s estimates

Denver, October 9, 2008 – Today Secretary of State Mike Coffman responded to voter concerns generated by an October 9 story in the New York Times. The article identified six states, one of which was Colorado, and referenced inaccurate numbers related to voter registration.

“Colorado voters can rest assured that our county clerks take every precaution in maintaining our state’s voter rolls,” said Coffman.

The Secretary of State’s office provided an actual report from Colorado’s statewide system that included all cancelled voters since July 21, 2008 and the reasons for cancellation. Those numbers are as follows:

Reason for Cancellation	Total
Moved out of County/State	6,572
Duplicate	4,434
Failed 20-day period	1,136
Deceased	1,145
Convicted Felon	544
Withdrawn	203
Not a Citizen	13
Voter Fraud	2
TOTAL	14,049

In revisiting the numbers, the state did identify 2,454 duplicate voter records that were cancelled within the 90-day window referenced in the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Coffman did say that he was checking with the state Attorney General’s office for an interpretation of NVRA.

Last year, the state began developing the statewide voter registration database (SCORE) and consolidating the voter records of 64 counties into one system. SCORE was deployed statewide in April of 2008 and allows real-time access for counties to verify voter information through Colorado state agencies and identify duplicate records from other counties.

“Centralizing the state’s voters helped to consolidate the rolls by identifying duplicate voters across county lines and providing additional verification tools,” said Coffman.

Coffman also encouraged Colorado voters to visit www.GoVoteColorado.com, where they can verify their own voter registration information to ensure it’s up to date and accurate.