City talks down, lawyers up (Letter in Aspen Times May 22) Harvie Branscomb

The following letter was published May 22, 2010 in The Aspen Times
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100522/LETTER/100529945/1020&parentprofile=1061

Dear Editor:
City Council and staff don't seem to mind pursuing their expensive defense against Marilyn Marks' effort to obtain reasonable transparency of election records. Ironically, they are now generally fighting against transparency promised prior to last May's election. The engagement of high profile Denver-based criminal defense counsel shows their intention to gear up. Will Aspen simply protect their many election irregularities with big-time lawyers or instead solve the underlying problems and make sure anonymous records become accessible? I am hoping for the latter.
There is transparency news from Michigan. Activists there were seeking actual paper ballots for audit purposes, while Marilyn only seeks indestructible electronic copies. Last week they received good news from their attorney general. He advised that Michigan's voted ballots are indeed public records and can be inspected and audited subject to open records request. The statement is posted at  http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com/2010/05/text-of-michigan-attorney-generals.html

But in Aspen, Marilyn Marks has been confronted with aggressive obstacles to obtaining mere digital copies of similar records. Her transparency litigation will move to the Appeals Court if Judge Boyd refuses to reconsider, again with Aspen voters footing the bill for efforts

Michigan's Ballots are Pubilc Documents---Why Not Aspen's?

The Michigan Attorney General recently handed down an opinion confirming that voted ballots in Michigan are public documents.
If Michigan citizens can look at their ballots? Minnesotans' theirs, Floridians theirs, why not Aspen?
If Longmont, Colorado citizens can be involved in post elections using real ballots why are Aspen's ballots secret?
If El Paso County (Colorado Springs) can have extensive citizen post election audits, why do Aspen's ballots have to be hidden away from all but the city officials?
See a full explanation from the Michigan AG's opinion, demonstrating that ballots are to be non-traceable to the voter. The same facts and logic should apply in Aspen.

http://www.glassballotbox.org/storage/MichiganCase.pdf

Text of Michigan Attorney General's Opinion on Voted Ballots and FOIA

Copied from: http://www.ag.state.mi.us/opinion/datafiles/2010s/op10324.htm

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The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich. Dept. of Attorney General Web Site - http://www.ag.state.mi.us)
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STATE OF MICHIGAN

MIKE COX, ATTORNEY GENERAL

ELECTIONS:

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT:

PUBLIC RECORDS:

SECRETARY OF STATE:

Access to ballots voted at an election under the Freedom of Information Act