To the Board of El Paso County Commissioners:
My name is Andrew Dalby, Candidate for Colorado Springs Mayor. I attended the 2022 Aug 23 Meeting of the Board. Several members of the community expressed concern regarding the security and integrity of our voting process. Unprompted, Commissioner Geitner expressed her opinion, explicitly stating for the record, that “Of course, that would be more secure” to have in-person voting with an ID requirement. Commissioner VanderWerf replied to her statement “for the record, I concur with those comments”. (Reference the official recording of the meeting beginning timestamp approximately 1:05:45.) Since two of the five commissioners (half of those present) have stated this opinion for the record without being asked, I hereby request that the BOCC officially adopt a resolution to that effect. My proposed resolution is as follows:
Whereas: The sovereignty of democracies lies in the people.
Whereas: The will of the people is expressed through the voting process.
Whereas: The stability of a democracy is directly related to the confidence inspired by the voting process.
Whereas: Participation in an election is directly related to the confidence inspired by the voting process.
Whereas: Confidence in the results of an election is directly related to the security of the ballots.
Whereas: Vote fraud is inversely related to the security of the ballots.
Whereas: The chain of custody is a crucial factor in the security of the ballots.
Whereas: Unsecured ballots risk disenfranchising eligible voters through discouraged participation, uncounted valid ballots, and counted invalid ballots.
Therefore: Be it resolved that the Board of El Paso County Commissioners finds that the citizens of the county have a vested and compelling interest in the security of their elections. That more secure elections are preferable to less secure ones. That in-person voting with a requirement to present a valid, government issued photo ID is inherently more secure and therefore preferable to the method currently mandated by state statute where ballots are delivered to electors by insecure USPS bulk rate mail (commonly known as “junk mail”), and may be returned by first-class mail or unattended drop boxes.
I will be attending next week’s meeting, and look forward to seeing this resolution on the agenda.
Regards,
Andrew Dalby
Candidate, Colorado Springs Mayor