Can Minnesota happen in Colorado? A conversation with Bernie Buescher

June 17, 7:44 AMDenver Election Reform ExaminerJan Tyler

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Click on the image to watch Examiner Jan Tyler's interview with Secretary of State Bernie Buescher

It's been two weeks since the Minnesota Supreme Court heard arguments in the legal battle between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken in the state's unresolved U.S. Senate race.

The legal battle over ballots from last November's U.S. Senate in Minnesota rages on and Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken still have a court date. It's been two weeks since the state's Supreme Court heard arguments and there's still no ruling.

During a conversation with Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, it was obvious that this scenario could be a nightmare for any state.

Buescher agreed that parts of Minnesota could happen in Colorado where there is a close election with an extended recount. In July, Buescher will meet with another secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, to discuss statutory authority to determine voter intent and provisional ballots.

Buescher's aim is to refine the process used to determine if a person is actually authorized to vote and should been counted. For transparency, the aim is to comply with federal law and maintain accurate voter lists.

The new agenda includes working with the county clerks to review voter rolls and merge duplicate records. Buescher emphasizes not destroying, or purging, a file but instead to merge them together. The helps to avoid double votes and offers better information for election research.

The merging project has been underway for a couple weeks, beginning with the larger counties of Denver, Adams and Arapahoe. After a slow beginning, the effort is now extending into other counties statewide.

Such meticulous research can be slow-going, so Buescher is unsure the audit of voter records will be complete by the end of 2009, leaving questions about the November election.

The complete interview is available in the following video:

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