Boulder County's discredited HART/Intercivic voting equipment has failed again. It is unable to read votes on ballots that are folded.
Since the ballots were folded by HART, there is nothing that voters can do to protect their vote.
In "County voting faces more woes", the Daily Times-Call reports that seven of 429 ballots were misread during a test run. This is a huge error. It is more than three times the number required for a mandatory recount.
How did this system pass federal and state certification tests? Are the testing procedures real, or are they a hoax intended to give the public false confidence in voting equipment?
Why is this system being used in Boulder County, since it failed during both the 2004 Primary and General elections?
The “ballot fold” problem demonstrates yet again that the HART system is totally unreliable and must be immediately discarded – BEFORE it is used to count votes for the November election.
The county’s planned solution is unacceptable. There is no guarantee that all ballots with creases will somehow be detected by the ineffective and untrustworthy equipment and resolved as intended.
And the county’s solution exposes the voter’s vote to accidental or intentional change by workers. It exposes "good" votes to cancellation by "bad" votes.
On this ballot, county officials are attempting to extend their own terms of office and increase their own budgets. Simple concern for the appearance of impropriety dictates that the untrustworthy Hart/Intercivic system must not be used to decide this election. Surely the results would be challenged in court.
The Boulder County Clerk should file an immediate request with the Colorado Secretary of State to authorize removal of the HART/Intercivic equipment from this election.
