The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — County officials will discuss the potential purchase of 15 electronic voting machines this afternoon, the same day a new statewide voter registration system will be put to a telling test.

The State of Colorado Reg­istration and Election database, known as SCORE, has been a source of anxiety for voting officials across the state. To comply with a federal law, the system will place the state’s entire voter registration database on a single server in Denver, raising concerns about the system’s speed and the possibility that it could crash. Beginning today and for the next two weeks, all of Colorado’s 64 counties will conduct a simultaneous mock election to load test the new SCORE.

“We’re going to go through the entire election process with the new statewide voter registration system,” Routt County Clerk and Recorder Kay Weinland said.

Officials hope the mock election will give the state plenty of time to fix any kinks in the system well before the August primary and November general elections. If the system crashed during either election, Weinland said the county would have paper poll books on hand at every voting location.

“I’m going to hope for the best and have a backup plan,” Weinland said. “I just think we have to remain optimistic. … It’s a work in progress, and we’re learning as we go.”

SCORE stores voter data such as party affiliation and polling location. Weinland said the system is a standalone one that is not related to the actual casting of votes, which will be the topic of discussion when Weinland meets with the Routt County Board of Commissioners this afternoon to discuss the potential purchase of 15 electronic voting machines — to raise the county total to 70 — at a cost of more than $46,000.

Electronic voting equipment has been embroiled in controversy since last year, when Secretary of State Mike Coffman decertified some machines used across the state. Machines used in Routt County to cast votes were never decertified, but scanners used to count votes were. Coffman has since recertified, with conditions, every previously decertified piece of equipment.

“Voters can rest assured that the certification process was rigorous and comprehensive and ensures that each voting system is secure and can accurately count every vote,” Coffman said in a March press release.

Despite Coffman’s assurances, Weinland is worried the machines could again be called in to question, and she is hesitant to recommend the purchase of 15 more machines.

“My gut feeling is we should go with what we’ve got and rely on paper as a backup plan because of the uncertainty with the voting equipment,” Weinland said.

All of the questions and controversy surrounding Colo­rado’s conduction of the 2008 election come in a year when many expect record turnout at the polls. Weinland said Routt County is experiencing a 15 percent increase in voter registrations. She said she will prepare for a 100 percent turnout of active voters, those who voted in the previous election. In 2004, the last presidential election year, Routt County saw a 92 percent turnout of active voters.

“I’m sure we’ll have at least that in ’08,” Weinland said.