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Wednesday ballot return numbers: Democrats increase lead over Republicans in Colorado submissions
DENVER – Wednesday’s ballot return numbers from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office show registered Democrats again increased their lead in the number of ballots submitted so far statewide.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office updates the number of ballots returned via mail and votes made in-person each day, and breaks down the votes by which party each person who voted is registered for.
Every ballot is categorized by each voter’s registration and does not say how a person voted. Colorado law allowed county clerks to start counting ballots on Oct. 24.
The county clerk’s offices open the ballots, check their signatures to validate them, and scan the results. However, the results will not be tallied or released until after the polls close on Nov. 8.
Wednesday’s numbers show the ballots of an additional 48,839 registered Democrats were submitted Tuesday – nearly 2,000 more than registered Republicans submitted.
That brings the registered Democrats’ lead in ballot submissions to more than 25,000 over Republicans.
An additional 32,944 unaffiliated voter ballots came in to county clerk’s offices Tuesday.
After Tuesday’s numbers were counted, a total of 416,951 ballots have so far been submitted in Colorado, which represents about 13.3 of registered active voters statewide.
In the last presidential election, in 2012, Colorado had a voter turnout of 71 percent. At the same time that year, early and absentee voting showed registered Republicans had a lead over Democrats, according to Colorado polling agency Magellan Strategies.
Newt Gingrich to participate in conservative roundtable in Denver Wednesday
DENVER – Former House Speaker and current Donald Trump surrogate Newt Gingrich will be in Denver Wednesday to take part in a roundtable with conservative leaders at the Independence Institute.
A news release from the Trump campaign says Gingrich will speak at the roundtable and take questions from the press “if time allows.”
The roundtable will be held Wednesday at noon at the Independence Institute, located at 727 East 16th Ave. in Denver.
Gingrich’s appearance comes as the Trump campaign is in the middle of a last-minute blitz of swing states and other states that either nationwide polls or Trump’s campaign say are in play for the Republican nominee on Nov. 8.
Trump himself campaigned in Golden and Greeley over the weekend, and Trump’s son, Eric Trump, campaigned in Colorado Springs and Lakewood last week.
Trump’s, running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, was also in Colorado Springs last Wednesday. Trump has visited Colorado six times since July 1.
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First numbers on Colorado ballot returns show more voting by Democrats so far
DENVER – Colorado got its first look at early voting turnout numbers Monday as the Secretary of State’s Office released the first batch of total voting numbers thus far.
Every ballot is categorized by each voter’s registration and does not say how a person voted. Colorado law allowed county clerks to start counting ballots on Oct. 24.
The county clerk’s offices open the ballots, check their signatures to validate them, and scan the results. However, the results will not be tallied or released until after the polls close on Nov. 8.
As of Monday, a total of 113,932 ballots have been mailed back or returned in person. Ballots were mailed to voters beginning Monday, Oct. 17.
Of the ballots returned so far, 48,030 were from registered Democrats; 36,790 were from registered Republicans, and 27,435 were from unaffiliated voters.
Libertarians have sent in 1,054 ballots; Green Party voters have sent back 345 and American Party voters have returned 265 ballots.
The highest number of returned ballots so far have come from Arapahoe County (16,244), followed by El Paso County (15,673), Denver County (15,672) and Jefferson County (13,809).
An Oct. 3 tally of registered Colorado voters found there were a total of 3,125,319 registered active voters statewide, meaning 3.65 percent of active voters have so far cast their ballot.
The turnout in 2014, which wasn’t a presidential election year, was third nationwide at 54.5 percent.
But in the last presidential election year, 2012, voter turnout was 71 percent – also third in the nation at the time.
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Several homes evacuated in Castle Rock; bomb squad detonates 2 explosive devices found in home
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – A Douglas County bomb squad detonated two explosive devices found inside a Castle Rock home.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Capt. Darren Weekly says the items were dangerous but required additional manipulation to become bombs.
Authorities discovered them Monday while investigating suspicious chemicals found inside of a house. The discovery prompted the evacuation of up to 30 homes in a Castle Rock subdivision near the Plum Creek Golf Course. The devices were safely detonated inside the golf course.
The evacuations were lifted early Tuesday morning after Castle Rock police, FBI agents and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigated the situation.
The box of chemicals was found at or a house in the 400 block of West Prestwick Way in Castle Rock Monday morning.
Castle Rock police say the department arrested two teens Sunday night after neighbors reported they were acting suspiciously, and when officers told the parents of one of the children at their home Monday morning, the officers found a small box of chemicals, prompting the call to hazmat crews with Douglas County.
A spokesman with Castle Rock police said at an afternoon conference that after Douglas County bomb squads went through the house, they called in the FBI and ATF, which have more sophisticated equipment. The evacuations were ordered out of “an abundance of caution.”
He said the chemicals in question were found inside the house and on the back porch. The hazmat crews had yet to identify the chemicals. The city spokeswoman said everyone in the area had been notified of the situation.
The two juveniles remain in custody on charges unrelated to the possible explosives. The teens are high school aged. Authorities say one had an extensive knowledge of chemicals.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigated a possible social media threat earlier Monday, but that threat has not been linked to the explosives investigation at this time.
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KNOW YOUR VOTE: 7 things to know about Amendment 72, increasing the state cigarette & tobacco taxes
DENVER – In the weeks ahead of the Nov. 8 General Election, Denver7 will profile most of the state ballot measures and initiatives. In this edition, we take a look at Amendment 72, which would increase the taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco and distribute the new tax money to various health-related programs.
Here are 7 things you need to know about Amendment 72: Continue reading
Democratic voting rush continues, bucking statewide voter registration trends so far in Colorado
DENVER – Registered Democrats in Colorado continue to return their ballots in higher numbers than both registered Republicans and unaffiliated voters, according to the latest return numbers from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office updates the number of ballots returned via mail and votes made in-person each day, and breaks down the votes by which party each person who voted is registered for.
Every ballot is categorized by each voter’s registration and does not say how a person voted. Colorado law allowed county clerks to start counting ballots on Oct. 24.
The Secretary of State’s Office opens the ballots, checks their signatures to validate them, and scans the results. However, the results will not be tallied or released until after the polls close on Nov. 8.
The numbers posted Thursday show 58,309 ballots from registered Democrats were submitted Wednesday, which is nearly 4,000 more than the 54,728 registered Republicans who submitted ballots Wednesday. Democrats now lead Republicans in the number of ballots submitted so far by nearly 29,000.
Unaffiliated voters submitted just more than 40,000 ballots Wednesday, bringing that group’s total to 143,866 ballots submitted so far.
The number of ballots submitted so far by people registered for each political party bucks voter registration numbers.
As of Oct. 3, there were 1,080,438 registered unaffiliated voters in Colorado; 998,845 registered Democrats and 992,944 Republicans registered in the state.
But of the 572,550 ballots submitted so far, 39.3 percent have been from Democrats, 34.2 percent have been from Republicans and 25.1 percent have been from unaffiliated voters.
The 572,550 ballots submitted so far represent 18.3 percent of registered active voters in Colorado. In the last presidential election, in 2012, Colorado had a voter turnout of 71 percent.
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Authorities release body camera video, investigation into shooting of Detective Dan Brite
PARKER, Colo. – Authorities on Thursday morning released the body camera video from a Parker police officer who shot and killed a man accused of shooting Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Detective Dan Brite on Sept. 2.
Detective Brite is paralyzed from the waist down after he was allegedly shot by Randall Rodick, 40, in the incident near Sierra Vista in Parker. Brite is now being treated at Craig Hospital after being transferred from Parker Adventist on Oct. 6.
Parker officers and deputies with Douglas County were called out to the Sierra Vista area of Parker that day to help with Rodick, who was reported as being suicidal.
When officers arrived to Rodick’s home, he allegedly shot at the law enforcement officers and drove away, eventually crashing near Lifetime Fitness and once again exchanging gunfire with officers. Authorities have said an AK-47 and drum magazine were found at the scene.
Brite was shot in the exchange, but Parker Police Department Officer Ronnie Dorrell shot and killed Rodick shortly afterward.
Released Thursday at a news conference at the Parker Police Department were the full officer-involved shooting review from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, as well as the body camera video showing Officer Dorrell shooting Rodick.
Editor’s Note: The full video released by Parker PD can be seen in the player above. Denver7 has censored two curse words and blurred the body of Rodick, but the rest of the video remains unchanged.
District Attorney George Brauchler in the report determined Officer Dorrell’s shooting of Rodick was justified.
The report contains a rundown of the body camera video.
In the video, Officer Dorrell is seen stopping his car, running up to a staging area past several civilians, and taking cover while he waited for orders.
He is told to get closer to the scene, and gets in another cruiser to drive closer to the active scene. While driving closer to where Rodick was at the time, an officer on the radio says that shots were fired.
Dorrell arrives close to where Rodick had ended up and runs behind another squad car for cover. There, he fires at least one shot from his AR-15 rifle, hitting Rodick, after which he tells fellow officers over the radio the “suspect [is] down.”
As Dorrell and other officers secure the scene, they repeatedly say the Rodick is “down” and they call for medical attention.
Another officer says a handgun was found inside the RV and was secured.
Another officer asks, “Who got hit?”
“DB,” one officer says, referring to Brite. “F—, is he all right?” another officer asks, to which one of the officers at the scene says, “No.”
Dorrell tells the officers he took the shot that took down Rodick after one speculates Rodick shot himself.
The rest of the officers check themselves and one another to be sure they weren’t hit, and a commander at the scene tells Dorrell to be sure his safety is on (it is).
The commander tells Dorrell to come with him to be briefed after he confirms he fired his weapon.
The department also included a map that shows the movements of Rodick and Officer Dorrell, which is embedded below.
Parker Police Chief David King was joined at the news conference by a Parker police commander, Castle Rock Police Chief Jack Cauley and Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Chief Steve Johnson.
Second lawsuit challenging Colorado’s ‘ballot selfie’ statute filed in federal court
DENVER – A second lawsuit arguing Colorado’s laws forbidding people from taking pictures with their ballots is unconstitutional has been filed in federal court, and the matter is likely to be resolved before the Nov. 8 General Election.
The second suit was filed in U.S. District Court of Colorado Tuesday, and names three people as plaintiffs: Caryn Ann Harlos, who is the Communications Director of the Libertarian Party of Colorado and also serves as the region’s representative on the Libertarian National Committee; Denver voter Kiyomi Bolick and Denver voter Andrew Madson.
The suit is the second “ballot selfie” lawsuit filed in federal court in two days that challenges Colorado Revised Statute CRS §1-13-712, which forbids Coloradans from showing their completed ballots to anyone else or revealing how they voted. The full statute can be read below.
1-13-712. Disclosing or identifying vote.
(1) Except as provided in section 1-7-108, no voter shall show his ballot after it is prepared for voting to any person in such a way as to reveal its contents. No voter shall place any mark upon his ballot by means of which it can be identified as the one voted by him, and no other mark shall be placed on the ballot by any person to identify it after it has been prepared for voting.
(2) No person shall endeavor to induce any voter to show how he marked his ballot.
(3) No election official, watcher, or person shall reveal to any other person the name of any candidate for whom a voter has voted or communicate to another his opinion, belief, or impression as to how or for whom a voter has voted. (
4) Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in section 1-13-111.
Source: L. 80: Entire article R&RE, p. 434, § 1, effective January 1, 1981.
Editor’s note: The provisions of this section are similar to provisions of several former sections as they existed prior to 1980.
Monday’s lawsuit named Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams and Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman as defendants in the suit. It was filed by Colorado Springs Rep. Owen Hill and an 18-year-old Lakewood voter.
Tuesday’s lawsuit names Williams and Coffman as defendants, but also names Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
It asks a federal judge to declare portions 1 and 3 of the statute unconstitutional on the basis they violate the First and Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and expression, or at the very least to issue preliminary, then permanent injunctions to keep the statute from being enforced.
At issue in the most recent lawsuit are statements from Morrisey and Williams’ offices reminding voters of the statute and that it is illegal to take pictures with their ballots.
Harlos argues that as Communications Director of the Libertarian Party, she should have the right to post a picture of her voting for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson to social media in order to promote the party she works for by the most widespread means possible.
Bolick is a Denver County voter who, according to the suit, decided who she was voting for for president after the last presidential debate. She took a picture of herself with her mail-in ballot and posted it to Facebook with her choice for president.
But afterward, an acquaintance of hers who is a prosecutor with the state Attorney General’s Office messaged her and told her doing so was illegal and that she risked prosecution by posting the picture. The suit said Bolick then removed the post, but still risks prosecution under the Colorado statute.
Likewise, Madson took a picture of himself with his filled-out ballot and sent the picture to “a few family members” and had planned to post it to social media, according to the suit. But he found out about the statute afterward and didn’t post it to social media “in order to avoid heightening his risk of prosecution,” according to the suit.
But since he had already sent the photo to others, he still technically risks prosecution.
The lawyers representing the three argue that subsection 3 of the revised statute “restricts enormous amounts of political speech that occupies a central part of our modern political discourse,” arguing that anyone who participated in an exit poll or spoke to journalists about who they voted for would also be violating the statute.
The statute stems from a law first written in 1891 that said, “A voter who shall…allow his ballot to be seen by any person, with an apparent intention of letting it be known how he is about to vote…shall be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than one hundred dollars.”
In Monday’s lawsuit, the plaintiffs and their attorneys argued the revised statute “runs roughshod” and “cannot be properly tailored.”
Tuesday’s lawsuit cites Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Staiert’s response to Monday’s suit, when she said in support of the statute:
“We believe the current law protects the integrity of the election and protects voters from intimidation or inducement. In fact, given Colorado’s unique election system and rise of social networking, the prohibition may be more important in Colorado than in other states and may be more timely today than ever.”
The Secretary of State’s Office reiterated its position on the statute Wednesday, pointing back to Staiert’s statement.
The “ballot selfie” issue has created headlines nationwide in the past week, as states have differing laws regarding taking pictures of one’s ballot. Singer Justin Timberlake was in hot water after posting a selfie with his ballot after he voted in Tennessee, though laws in that state are unclear.
A report by Vox says ballot selfies are legal in 22 states and Washington, D.C., illegal in 16 states, and the law is unclear in the remaining 13 states.
It is likely the two lawsuits will be consolidated, as they both argue essentially the same thing: that the revised statute is out of line with the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
The Secretary of State’s Office’s response to Monday’s suit is due by 5 p.m. Oct. 31. A hearing on that suit is set for 9 a.m. Nov. 2 in U.S. District Court of Colorado.
Should the suits be consolidated, it’s unclear if those dates will change.
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KNOW YOUR VOTE: 7 things to know about Amendment 71, changing the process to amend CO constitution
DENVER – In the weeks ahead of the Nov. 8 General Election, Denver7 will be profiling most of the state ballot measures and initiatives. In this edition, we take a look at Amendment 71, which would change the process for amending the state constitution in Colorado.
Here are 7 things you need to know about Amendment 71: Continue reading
Mike Pence in Colorado Springs Wednesday; Eric Trump in Springs and Lakewood Thursday
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Republican vice presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, will be back in Colorado again Wednesday evening for another campaign stop in Colorado Springs, and Donald Trump’s son, Eric, will campaign for his father in Colorado Thursday.
The Trump campaign has embarked on a last-minute blitz of classic swing states and other states that have suddenly become toss-ups ahead of the polarizing Nov. 8 General Election.
Pence will make stops in Reno, Nevada and Salt Lake City Wednesday before heading to Colorado Springs.
His event in Springs will be held at 7 p.m. at the Colorado Springs Event Center. Tickets are available here.
Eric Trump will make four stops in Colorado Thursday. He’ll start at noon at the Mt. Carmel Center of Excellence, a veterans center in Colorado Springs, then head over to the Penrose Events Center at 12:30 p.m.
After that, Eric Trump will participate in two “get out the vote” rallies: the first at 2 p.m. at the El Paso County Trump headquarters, located at 205 Sutton Lane, and the second at 6 p.m. at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood.
Expected to campaign with Eric are motivational speaker Mark Geist, state COP chairman Steve House, rancher and author Don Bendell and Veterans for Trump director Matt Miller.
The elder Trump is in Washington, D.C. Wednesday to officially open his new Trump International Hotel. He’ll then fly to North Carolina for a Wednesday evening rally in Kinston before spending Thursday campaigning in Ohio.
Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he will “see [Colorado] soon,” though no official trips to Colorado are listed on his campaign website aside from Pence’s and Eric Trump’s visits.
Get your ballots in Colorado – I will see you soon — and we will win!#MakeAmericaGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/oDLvZg7MLk
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2016
The Trump campaign has campaigned extensively in Colorado in the past two months as it continues to believe it has a chance to win the state, which is a classic “purple state” that votes Democrat and Republican fairly equally.
But the most recent polls show states that are usually Republican strongholds, like Nevada, Utah and Ohio, are slipping from Trump’s grip in the final weeks of the election, according to averages from Real Clear Politics.
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