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Nov 14, 2006 12:37 pm US/Mountain
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Secretary Of State Race In Limbo, Coffman Leading
By Dan Elliott, AP Writer
Associated Press Writer Don Mitchell contributed to this report.
DENVER (AP) ―
Republican secretary of state candidate
Mike Coffman's 21,000-vote lead over Democrat
Ken Gordon began to look insurmountable Monday as the number of uncounted ballots in key Democratic-leaning counties dwindled to below 13,000.
"If those numbers are accurate, then I wish Mike Coffman the best in his new job," Gordon told The Associated Press. But Gordon, a state senator who will again be Senate majority leader if he loses the secretary of state election, stopped short of making a formal concession.
Coffman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
No state agency provides a comprehensive vote count in the days immediately after the election. The AP compiles an unofficial count based on reports from the individual counties.
Coffman's lead -- which stood at 21,163 in AP's unofficial count as of Monday afternoon -- was sure to change as dozens of counties completed their postelection counts of absentee and provisional ballots.
Gordon had pinned his hopes on large numbers of uncounted ballots in Democratic-leaning counties where he did well in the initial count, particularly Denver, where he was winning 70-30 percent, and Boulder, where he led 64-36 percent. Other Democratic-leaning counties with substantial vote uncounted on election night: Pueblo, which favored Gordon 59-41 percent, and Adams, 54-46 percent.
But those four counties combined did not have enough votes to overcome Coffman's lead in unofficial results, with nearly 1.5 million votes cast statewide.
The delays were blamed on unfamiliarity with new voting equipment, computer failures, a long and complicated statewide ballot and a switch by many big counties to voting centers from the traditional precinct model.
Coffman and Gordon have both expressed dismay at the delays and vowed to make changes. Gordon said the pair have already met at least twice to talk about potential reforms.
Denver election officials spent Monday hand-copying 3,820 absentee ballots that were damaged or filled out improperly so they could be run through counting machines. They have finished counting nearly 62,000 other absentee ballots.
Denver Elections Commission spokesman
Alton Dillard declined to predict when the count might be finished.
"I'm not going to give a time frame. I'm going to go a couple days at the outside to give us some cushion," he said.
Also undecided was a Denver tax increase to fund preschool and an at-large seat for the University of Colorado Board of Regents.
With more than 140,000 ballots counted on the preschool tax proposal, "yes" votes exceeded "no" by about 1,000, Dillard said.
Anthony Rainey, technology chief for the Denver Elections Commission, was placed on "administrative investigative leave" in the aftermath of the election problems.
Mayor
John Hickenlooper said he would appoint a panel to investigate the foul-ups, and City Auditor Dennis Gallagher has proposed changing the city charter to replace the three-member elections commission with a single, elected clerk and recorder.
The Denver delays were so severe that police officers were called in Saturday to relieve exhausted election workers.
In Douglas County, where a shortage of voting machines forced some people to wait for hours to cast ballots, the county commissioners said Monday they would form an 11-member panel to assess the problems.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)