Balink under fire for error on CC voter registration

Democrats assailed the Republican El Paso County clerk and recorder Monday for providing incorrect information to Colorado College about out-of-state students' eligibility to register to vote.

The Clerk and Recorder's Office, which runs local elections, told the college that students whose parents claim them as dependents for tax purposes in another state were not eligible to vote in Colorado. Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink late Tuesday acknowledged his office had incorrectly interpreted state law and said his office works to ensure everyone who's eligible will have a chance to vote.

Under Colorado law, students who meet residency requirements are eligible to register to vote even if they are claimed as dependents in another state. The law says a voter must be a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years old and have lived in the state for at least 30 days before the election in order to register.

The deadline to register for the Nov. 4 election is 5 p.m. Oct. 6.

Top Democratic Party leaders including party Chairwoman Pat Waak and state Sen. John Morse accused Balink of illegally trying to prevent some students from voting.

"For some reason, our county clerk is focused on making sure people can't vote," Morse said at a news conference at CC.

Martha Tierney, attorney for the Colorado Democratic Party, also faulted the Clerk and Recorder's Office's initial message.

"It's false and wrongly dissuaded students from registering to vote in Colorado," she said.

"I congratulate the office for correcting the mistake. I wish they would have done it sooner than now."

The Clerk and Recorder's Office's message went to Colorado College in March, and a student organization posted a summary of the information on the college Web site.

Four years ago, problems cropped up for Colorado College students trying to vote in the presidential election. Many students who showed up at their precinct at First Presbyterian Church downtown didn't have proper ID, which led to waits of more than three hours for some voters.

"After that, the CC administration sought and was granted a polling place on campus.

This precinct also serves some of the neighboring community members," college spokeswoman Leslie Weddell said.

Balink said a review of registration records found no one was denied the chance to register because of the mistake.

"We encourage any eligible resident to come to our offices and register to vote in this important election," Balink said in a statement.

Although some private organizations conduct voter-registration drives, Balink has urged people to register at an official election office.

Some organizations that put on registration drives illegally throw out the registrations of people whose political views contradict their agenda, he has said, and then voters are surprised on Election Day to find they're not registered.

People are then allowed to cast a provisional ballot, which election officials verify before adding it to the official results.

DETAILS

Colorado voter registration forms are available on the Clerk and Recorder's Office Web site, http://car.elpasoco.com/election.
The Clerk and Recorder's Office has three locations, each open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
* Centennial Hall, 200 S. Cascade Ave.
* Powers Branch on the southeast corner of Powers Boulevard and Airport Road.
* Chapel Hills mall, on the north side next to JC Penney.
For details, call 575-8683.