Colorado Springs Voters:

The April 4 election may hold ugly surprises if Governor Hickenlooper signs HB17-1014
sponsored by area lawmakers Owen Hill and Dave Williams. Their bill, awaiting the
governors signature, strips voters of the protection of secret ballots in Colorado. Voters
will pay the price if campaigns adopt the practices in next months election. The
legislature passed their irresponsible bill abolishing the state constitutional requirements
that ballots be secret and anonymous, -- a protection voters have relied on since before
Colorados statehood.

If any campaigns take early advantage of the new law during this election, here are
examples of what can happen under HB1014s provisions:

--Proponents of Question 2 for $6 million in revenue to the city can place election
watchers in the polling places and voters (including city employees, city
contractors, their friends and families) can show the watchers that they voted
right before dropping their ballot in the box. Opponents can do the same, making
the polls a stressful place for voters who should be free of undue influence.

--City Council candidates may also station watchers in the polling place so that
their willing and loyal voters can prove their allegiance to the campaign at the
ballot box. Campaigns may also send door-to-door ballot harvesters who will
gladly review willing voters ballots to verify that they voted right. While no one
can force voters to show their ballots, voters are likely to feel subtle pressure to
do so.

--Employers, churches, clubs, college groups, etc. can have ballot voting
gatherings where the group endorses a candidate or question and the group
votes their ballots together. Subtle peer pressure will certainly play a big part in
the results.

-A clever entrepreneur can set up a vote trading website where people can trade
their votes between City Council districts and ballot questions. Proponents of
Question 2 can trade their vote with another voter for a City Council candidate
vote in exchange for a YES vote on Question 2. The ballots can be reviewed to
verify that the votes reflect the deal made. In another example, supporters of a
candidate in competitive District 6 can trade their votes on Questions 1-3 for
votes for their Council candidate.

Secretary of State Williams urged Hill and Williams to propose anti-vote trading
statutes in their bill, but they refused.
 -In the future when voters visit officials to seek licenses or jobs or favors, expect
voters to take copies of their ballots to show that they voted right.

The state constitution and common sense do not permit any of these activities because
it prohibits voters from identifying their ballots, mandating a secret ballot to protect the
voters and the integrity of the process. However, Hill and Williams and their Democratic
co-sponsors convinced the legislature to pass this law in conflict with the constitution,
leaving citizens to go to court to attempt to have it struck down. The arrogance of their
position is astounding.

There is a simple solution that avoids a veto fight. Hill and Williams can ask that
leadership urge a recall of the bill to correct the problems with it, and serve the goal they
initially claimed---to allow people to share photos showing their recommended votes.
So far they have resisted doing so. Please ask them to reconsider.

The bill is headed for Governor Hickenloopers desk, with only 10 days for him to veto
before it becomes law. This is devastating law for Colorado Springs voters and all
Coloradans. Please immediately write to the Governors office to request a veto. More
details and Governors office contact information can be found at https://goo.gl/8up3Gm

While the bill technically becomes effective in August, aggressive campaigns and voters
will start the new practices now. They will know that DAs will not prosecute for activities
that are about to become legal by the time the case could get to court.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions, or someone claims that these problems
are not valid issues.

Marilyn Marks
Marilyn@AspenOffice.com