December 3, 2014

Statement of Duress Certification of Pueblo County 2014

General Election
As Republican members of the County Canvassing Board, we were appointed to fulfill the Duties of the
Canvassing Board.
As we have endeavored to perform our duties on the Canvass Board, we have expressed concerns
regarding a number of areas of the election. Our highest priority for review of data necessary to
consider certification today included the following in our opening statement (SOS responses are in bold
and italicized lettering).
1. A printout of all batch numbers with batch sizes and types tabulated by the Optech 400c central
count scanner. This information was not able to be obtained at todays meeting per the SOS.
We were told this simple tabulation procedure had never been done before and could not be
done today. It is our understanding this procedure has been performed in other counties with
the same scanner.
2. The high number of manual duplications of ballots, specifically concerns with 1,750 pre-October
28th manual duplications without proper oversight or double check processes implores us to
review these ballots. A minimum of 500 ballots up to 1000 should be considered for review.
Less than 70 ballots were reviewed with 2 identifiable errors. A third ballot had a
questionable error. An official complaint had been filed with the SOS regarding this issue.
3. The inability to reconcile the precinct level votes cast to precinct level votes counted remains a
concern. Any data that would complete that information loop would be necessary to comply
with the SOS Rule. An explanation was given that the SOS could provide such reports, but we
werent in a position to review them today.
4. Rapid signature verification with an inadequate time and number of watchers permitted for
responsible review or challenge. We request you permit review of an adequate number of
signature verification files (at least 500), in order to develop reasonable confidence in the
quality of the verification process. This request was not addressed or reviewed today.
5. The unusually low undervote rate in county races requires analysis. We request your assistance
in analyzing why our data appears to be significantly lower than other counties. Explanation
from SOS was this is not a concern compared to other counties or by races.
6. How are election complaints filed with the Pueblo County Clerk and SOS addressed through this
process? There was discussion of the complaints but no clear direction on how these would be
mitigated for this election.

Other concerns

Unverifiable chain of custody of ballots specifically poll watcher complaints with in-person
ballot boxes chain of custody. An official complaint had been filed with the SOS in regards to this
issue. How can we reconcile ballots counted to ballots cast to the best of our ability without
this information? This question remains a crucial concern. We were told by the SOS that chain
of custody issues are out of the purview of the Canvass Board yet they are critically important
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when it comes to election integrity and transparency. We were not allowed to examine chain
of custody log sheets (a clerk employee held up and discussed only two.) SOS told canvassers
there were simply too many to look at and "no election is perfect."
The processing procedure of undeliverable ballots. Replacement ballots were mailed out to
voters after a clerk employee searched the database for a new address for the voter. This
situation was clearly observed by a poll watcher who stated this without a doubt to the SOS
today (the same watcher who had been fired by the clerk when he began asking questions.)
Election judges for the Republican Party were not appointed by the party chair, but rather by
the County Clerk. Many judges inside the election department are employees of the County
Clerk. We remain concerned that this process may not change in future elections.
Failure of bi-partisan election judges to provide signed and certified surveys of returns by
precinct. The SOS was asked about this at least two times. We were told that providing the
signed and certified survey of returns would take too much paper and it was only necessary
we see the final page. How can we be assured that chain of custody, proper duplication and
reconciliation of ballot forms occurred without this evidence?

Our attempts to get information were intended to help address these concerns and bring us to a place
where we could verify election data with measurable facts in order to certify the election with
confidence. As for the requests we brought forward to the SOS today the concerns were either
downplayed, told it was not a canvassers duty, ignored, or excused.
With no way to get all the data we requested, we were left with too many unanswered questions. To
make matters worse we were bullied and intimidated with a potential lawsuit for not agreeing to sign
off on certification of the Pueblo County races. According to multiple witnesses, the lawyer who was
going to initiate this lawsuit had the necessary paperwork on his lap at the meeting with the SOS
today, ready to file if canvassers did not vote for certification. Two candidates (R and D) were listed
as plaintiffs. Lawsuit threats against ordinary citizens should not be a part of the process, yet sadly
that was our experience.
As citizen canvassers, we have exhausted all options with this process. We must now measure our
ability to stand for truth, transparency and election integrity while recognizing that the concerns stated
in this letter, the new election law, and the processes canvassing boards currently operate under do not
coalesce. We do not believe that the voters of Pueblo County have been given the assurance the
election process was fully transparent. While it was certified it was not verified.
We have signed the election certification, but it is with critical concern, under great personnel conflict,
intimidation, incomplete and unsatisfactory review of election data, and duress.
Respectfully,
Paula McPheeters, Jennifer Lorensen,
Republican Party Canvass Board Members