COLORADO NUMBERS -- Do They Make Sense?

[IdaBriggs]

(Copied from General Discussion because I'm not sure how active this forum is) --

Colorado People, Please Answer: Did you have a ton of people wanting to vote for Salazar who didn't like Kerry? Do these numbers make "boots on the ground" sense?

Note: These numbers came from cnn's election coverage (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/CO/P/00/index.html), and were drawn to my attention by DUer "apolitical no more" -- Thank you! :)

Bush (R)........1,058,040.....Kerry (D).....944,052
Salazar (D).....1,023,803.....Coors (R).....944,520

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

1. this is what ive noticed

in a lot of places. A logical "Straight Ticket" vote would give you the numbers above for BUSH-SALAZAR and KERRY-COORS (I know, wtf) were from the same party. But they are not. IMHO It seems as though Kerry and Bush are attached to the wrong numbers. It seems people switched who the vote totals were for...thats just my tin-foil head going off...:tinfoilhat:

[Florida_Geek]

2. While Betty Castor lost in Fl to a repug

she lost with a 1/4 of the votes Kerry lost by... So more ppl in Florida voted for Betty than Kerry... things what make you go Mmmmm.

[rockymountaindem]

3. Yes, actually they do make sense.

If it had been "Generic Democrat" vs. Coors, Coors would have won. Thankfully we had Ken Salazar to run for us, the only Dem in statewide office and a popular AG. He won the endorsement of the police and firefighters, got to talk about being a law enforcement official etc. Furthermore, he's a 5th generation Coloradan, and his familiy got a land grant in our state from Cortez in the 1500s! He grew up on a ranch with no water or electricity, and consequently made a white cowboy hat the symbol of his campaign.

It was really cool to see the Dem. out manly-man the Republican. I'd also say that Coors anti-Washington line fell flat, considering that the very people he was bashing for messing things up are in his own party, "Do we want more big spending politicians in Washington? No. Vote Coors". Who runs Washington now, genius? Oh right, Republicans... so tell me why I should vote Repub. if all these things are wrong...

Oh, and Salazar also had 60% name recognition before the campaign, which is stratospheric for a state AG.

[IdaBriggs]

4. So, you personally know people who split their ticket?

You think a lot of people were doing it? Not accusing, just trying to gather facts. :)

[rockymountaindem]

5. Ummmm... no actually I don't.

The sane Republican I know voted straight Democratic (he's a little conflicted :) ). The others I know are extremely partisan, although a few of them did admit that Salazar wouldn't be bad, which is a real breakthrough for them.

[IdaBriggs]

6. I need a recount there, please. MANUAL, as in By Hand.

I believe it can be either VOTER or CANDIDATE initiated. Would one of you folks contact your Secretary of State and find out for me?

COLORADO (R)
Hon. Donetta Davidson
Secretary of State
Suite 200, 1560 Broadway
Denver, CO 80202
[phone]
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]

"A recount of any election contest shall be held if the difference between the highest number of votes cast and the next highest number of votes cast is less than or equal to one half of one percent of the highest vote cast in that election contest. Whenever a recount is not required and interested party (including a candidate who lost the election) may submit a notarized written request for a recount. Colorado Revised Statutes §§ 1-10.5-101, 1-10.5-102, 1-10.5-103, 1-10.5-10631-10-1207 (*cannot link directly to section)"

[CO Liberal]

7. People In Both Parties Trust Ken Salazar

And a lot of people don't trust Pete Coors. it's a simple as that.


This is the DU member still known as CO Liberal.

[IdaBriggs]

9. Or there's a bug in the software, and the numbers are being reversed.

Similar story in Florida, and possibly in other places. (I did the New Hampshire study.) Bottom line is, we don't know, so I would like to have the RAW DATA validated against the REPORTED DATA for the presidential election. Please. :)

[CO Liberal]

11. But Those of Us Here in Colorado See No Problem

You have to understand Colorado politics. Ken Salazar is a centrist Democrat who is respected by people across the political spectrum. Pete Coors is a right-wing tool who tried to but a seat in the Senate.


This is the DU member still known as CO Liberal.

[pleiku52cab]

8. Hey boys and girls, can you say FRAUD

[IdaBriggs]

10. Possibly. Please read post #6. nt

[CO Liberal]

12. Ida, I See No Fraud Here in Colorado

The election results in Colorado are consistent with the pre-election polls, which showed both Bush and Salazar leading. Your efforts to uncover fraud should be directed to another state IMHO, such as Ohio.


This is the DU member still known as CO Liberal.

[Lost Creek]

13. IDA - I am working on the Colorado #'s

Bush won on the vote in two counties - Douglas and El paso

If something is wrong it will be found there.

[CO Liberal]

14. Those Counties are Very Heavily GOP

Any numbers favoring the GOP are probably right.

[F.Gordon]

18. Perhaps I can be of some assistance

Douglas County 2004
Registered Voters: 153,200
Republican: 79,287
Democrat: 29,537
Independent: 44,066
Green: 205
Libertarian: 71

El Paso County 2004
Registered Voters: 355,765
Republican: 164,925
Democrat: 77,537
Independent: 112,179
Green: 735
Libertarian: 301

I also have precinct by precinct data for every county in the State. Early voting numbers, absentee numbers, and election day voting numbers. Active and Inactive voters for every precinct in the State. I have a fairly large database on the State of Colorado. I also have this way kewl mapping program that breaks down the entire metro area. All you had to do was ask.
:evilgrin:

Oh, and you missed a few Bush Counties....

Alamosa
Arapahoe
Archuleta
Baca
Bent
Broomfield
Chaffee
Cheyenne
Crowley
Custer
Delta
Dolores
Douglas
Elbert
El Paso
Fremont
Garfield
Grand
Hinsdale
Huerfano
Jackson
Jefferson
Kiowa
Kit Carson
Larimer
Lincoln
Logan
Mesa
Mineral
Moffat
Montezuma
Montrose
Morgan
Otero
Ouray
Park
Phillips
Prowers
Rio Blanco
Rio Grande
Sedgwick
Teller
Washington
Weld
Yuma

[Lost Creek]

20. Would you please E-mail me?

[e-mail]

many thanks

[jdog]

30. El Paso county

includes Colorado Springs which is home to the RW organization Focus on the Family. In addition there are a huge number of church organizations located there.

[politicat]

15. Look at our history and voting records.

Colorado can be electorally odd, Ida. There's a long history of forcing the government to either deadlock or cooperate (looking at the state Assembly records, there's rarely been a single party in control of the state; usually, it's all over the map.) Our largest party is "Unaffiliated."

I've got a friend whose family has been here forever; they claim they welcomed Kit Carson. According to him, the straight ticket never really caught on culturally here and especially among long term, "true native" residents, there is a disconnect between our representatives and federal elections. To quote him, "We send Democrats to Congress to bring home the bacon, and Republicans to the White House to feed the pig. Or, we send Republicans to Congress to keep them out of trouble here at home and a Democrat into the White House to keep an eye on the wayward children we inflict on the rest of the country."

The General Assembly is the same - keeping that "balance of power" or that deadlock seems to be a reasonable form of government for a lot of voters here.

As for requesting a recount... Donuts Davidson is not exactly non-partisan. It appears to me that she and Katherine Harris have been chatting.

While the numbers do strike me as somewhat strange, within the context of the state, they also look like what they probably are - the electoral voice of 2 million rugged individualists.

I know the numbers look odd. Have you checked with the county and state party to see if they're looking into this?

Pcat

[senaca]

16. Gut feeling about the Co numbers.

The Kerry/Coors numbers definately look like a transposition. Here's why I think this years numbers are an oddity. We voted for light rail, which the Gov. was opposed to. We voted for renewable energy. The house turned over to Dems. We have a popular mayor of Denver. The last two years there was major stonewalling and shell games over the state budget due to the Tabor Amendment. Cuts in health care, school funding and services have been felt these past two years. The crowds for Kerry had were large and energized. The GOTV effort was great. Salazar is respected by both parties but I didn't sense any great excitement for Bush/Cheney even in the conservative area where I lived. The sign ratio was approx. 50/50. The race that I wonder about is the Matsunaka/Musgrave race in the Fort Collins area. I haven't seen the final numbers for that with provisional ballots, but I wonder if the Stan Matsunaka campaign would be interested in the numbers posted above. At any rate those are just some thoughts.

[bush_is_wacko]

26. Actually

I hate to say it, but in Colorado it seems the repubs only vote for president or anti-gay rights and or anti-abortion rights. There was a gay rights initiative on the ballot the year Owens was elected.

I do agree though the numbers are looking a little suspicious this year. In fact, they look suspicious everywhere this year. My daughter's high school held mock elections and Kerry won by a fairly wide margin. Kids usually represent the parents voting habits fairly well. I was a little surprised by that, because I live in a fairly conservative area. Lots of monster sized fundamentalists churches over this way. I recommend sending an email to Keith Olberman on MSNBC, he's the only one talking about it publicly right now. The Kerry campaign wants all specific information sent to [e-mail]. Maybe you could give them a try?

[F.Gordon]

17. Hi Ida

:hi:

Please come to Colorado. I beg you. Pretty please?

What little credibility you and the other BBV choir members have left will be flushed down the toilet. I know I told you to stay the fuck out of Colorado, but I had a change of heart. I really, really want you to come here.

I’m assuming you already know all the nasty details. Like when the deadline for requesting a recount is (tick tock tick tock), who can request a recount, and how the recount is conducted. The last nasty detail is a real bummer, isn’t it?

The Democrats in this state busted their ass to make some good things happen. It’s bad enough that you want to undermine that effort by convincing a few gullible people that Colorado reeks of “fraud”, but now you are taking their money as well. That’s just plain pathetic.

[DaveinMD]

19. Ticket splitting has been happening for years

Salazar is a person who has always gotten Republican votes. I live in Montgomery County Maryland. For years, Republican Connie Morella represented this area. She would get 60-70 percent of the vote, while Democrats running for other offices receives the same percent. Not everyone votes straight party line. The Colorado election results make perfect sense to me.

[Robb]

21. I've sorta got the finger on the pulse of my little county

...and we've been splitting tickets for years (Ouray, around 3000 voters).

I personally know quite a few who are proud to say they voted for Bush and for Salazar; I saw a lot of Bush/Cheney signs in the same pastures as Salazar signs.

I can tell you a little detail about the unofficial presidential votes as they came in. The county has five precincts, and they went as predicted. Three represent the two "larger" cities of Ouray and Ridgway (which do not represent the majority of votes), which went to Kerry by around 53% in Ridgway and a single vote in Ouray. Colona, the smallest town, went resoundingly to Bush (around 70%), and the absentees and unincorporated county votes went to Bush at around 51%. Early voters went to Kerry in the 54% range.

I don't recall the Salazar/Coors numbers off the top of my head, but I did look very carefully at the prez numbers, and they made an awful lot of sense, knowing the communities intimately as I do. Obviously we don't have the provisional/emergency ballot numbers in yet, but there aren't enough to turn any of the races, even if they all go one way.

[eleny]

22. Here are Ouray's results by precinct

We've got an email to the county clerk also requesting a breakdown of party affiliations in each precinct. And also the election results for the presidential of 2000.

Online results for 2004 -
http://www.co.ouray.co.us/electionresults.php

[Robb]

25. And here are the certified results

http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/general/CO-OURAY-CUMULATIVE.htm

Interesting comparison since it's a small, manageable county to play the numbers with. 49 provisional ballots added into the mix, I'm still trying to find out how many were rejected, but we're calling it 75.55% voter turnout.

Of the prov ballots accepted, Kerry picked up 28, Bush 19... Salazar picked up 24, Coors 19. Oddly enough, 2 provisional ballots without presidential votes on them... of the provisional ballots, all but 5 voted in the senate race and all but 6 in the house.

In the end, with the 47 "new" presidential votes bringing the total there to 2,719, Bush won the county by 124 votes, Coors won by 17 votes.

[intheflow]

23. I know a Republican who split the ticket the other way.

Career Army dude. Hates Bush, so voted Kerry, but couldn't bring himself to vote for whole Dem ticket. He voted Coors over Salazar. (Mystifying, I know!)

[tbuddha]

24. If they cheated here it would have been in Denver

by throwing out Kerry votes...that is totally unsubstantiated but I wouldn't be at all surprised either.

[3 DanO]

27. The CO numbers look normal to me unlike a number of other states.

I've put together charts comparing the Bush-Kerry split with the Rep-Dem split of the registered voters for each county in various states. So far, Colorado is the only state I've worked where the splits have a normal spread without any apparent red shift.

(Maybe this is an indication that the numbers were manipulated and carefully disguised :) )

[ColoradoDemocrat]

28. 100% increase in spoilage

Hi Friends!
I printed out an AP article I saw about there being a 100$ increase in thrown-away ballots in CO.

I was hoping some like-mindeds would be here and care! I read another great article about NGOs pushing for election reform in other countries, including one run by Madeline Albright. Their method, which you can see worked in Ukraine, was organizing local units who communicated despite the state media and GOT TO THE STREETS SO THEY COULDN'T BE IGNORED!!

I care, I care, I CARE about vote spoilage in CO! How could we elect the Salazars AND bush? No Jose!

What can we do from here? I'm down in Durango and haven't scared up an active local group. We had MoveOn houseparties but I can't find that group now, online anyway. Do youall know who else is active in CO? Dean's people maybe?

I think we should protest on Dec. 12 like www.51capitalmarch.com-maybe we can get a SW corner protest for those of us too far from Denver.

What do y'all say?
Laurie

[jdog]

29. There's a rally in Denver on Saturday

http://denvervoice.org/protest_rally_11-20-04.htm

I think there are also people planning on rallying at the capital on sunday as part of the national effort.

[3 DanO]

32. Don't forget the cake!

[jdog]

31. could you give me a link to that story please?

I'd like to read it.

WOW! Lots of DUers live in Colorado. Hard (and sad) to believe it went red:(.

:hi: hi you guys!