MILLARD J. ZIMET
1315 Mountain View Drive
Aspen, CO 81611
millard [at] sopris [dot] net
Via Email:
Kathryn Koch
Ward Hauenstein
Robert Leatherman
April 2, 2010
Dear Aspen Election Commissioners:
I’m sorry I was out of town for your meeting held earlier this week. I’m writing to introduce myself to the new Election Commission members, and to briefly explain the issues that have concerned me arising from the May 2009 election.
My initial concern was whether other people could tell how I voted. The Colorado Constitution requires secret ballot elections, and living in a small town I want to make sure my voting choices remain anonymous. My concern was heightened when I learned that the City of Aspen had not shuffled the ballots and had publicly released both the precinct logs (showing the names and order of the voters as they signed in at each precinct) and the strings generated from the ballot scans (showing how each ballot was voted). I investigated and determined that, because the ballots and strings hadn’t been shuffled, if I could find my string then I could see how the voters listed near me on my precinct log voted, and vice versa. So I concluded that my ballot was not secure. That led me to file my complaint dated August 30, 2009, because I felt (and still do feel) that the City of Aspen violated my constitutional right (as well as the constitutional rights of all Aspen voters) to a secret ballot election. The City of Aspen has never responded in writing to my complaint, and has never denied the facts alleged in my complaint.
