August 26, 2022
(Preview - BCR supports recount lawsuits(?); Info on lawsuits and importance of supporting them; BCR and CRC Election Integrity history; some states and counties reject 2020 elections; advice to BCR EC; Donate to lawsuits - https://coloradorecount.com)
There is good news and bad news coming out of the August Executive Committee (EC) meeting of the Boulder County Republicans (BCR). The good news is that five members of the EC voted to support Tina Peter’s lawsuits. The bad news is that of the four party elected officers - the four members who voted against supporting the lawsuits - two quit. Our chairman and one of the vice chairmen resigned and walked out.
I don’t have a vote on the BCR EC anymore, but because I was previously chairman, they humored me and let me speak. For New Business, I proposed we write a resolution under the name of the Boulder County Republican's Executive Committee to fully support Tina Peters’ and the El Paso County candidate’s lawsuits for a manual recount of the 2022 primary election ballots. My friend, who acted as the parliamentarian when I was chairman, corrected me and said there must be a motion before there can be a discussion. As a voting member, she moved simply to have BCR support Tina Peter’s lawsuits for manual recounts.
There ensued a very heated discussion. Why would we come out in support of one candidate over another in a primary? We’re not, we’re asking that the recount happens legally. Why would we support lawsuits against the clerks, when 2/3 of them are Republican? Because they didn’t follow the law and test a sample of voter verified ballots from the primary election against the machine used to tally them. They already did the recount. No, Tina Peters paid for a recount and the Secretary of State and clerks did it wrong. The law says if the voter verified ballots match the machine count from those same ballots, then the machines can be used for the recount. Voter verified ballots weren’t used, so the comparison didn’t happen, so a machine recount was illegal. There should have been a manual recount, which is what the lawsuit seeks.
79. C.R.S. § 1-10.5-102 (3)(a) (p. 321) states:
Prior to any recount, the canvass board shall choose at random and test
voting devices used in the candidate race, ballot issue, or ballot question
that is the subject of the recount. The board shall use the voting devices
it has selected to conduct a comparison of the machine count of the
ballots counted on each such voting device for the candidate race, ballot
issue, or ballot question to the corresponding manual count of the
voter-verified paper records. (Emphasis added)
Tina Peter's lawsuits also seek legal certification for the tabulation machines, or lacking that, demands a manual count alongside the machine count.
COUNT II
(C.R.C.P. 65)
(Injunctive Relief)
137. As described above, the Dominion ICX devices and attached
components violate VSS and therefore are not certifiable for use in elections and
this recount in accordance with, inter alia, C.R.S. §§ 1-5-601.5, (p.196) 1-5-615(1)(l), and
1-5-615(1)(p) (p. 204)
141. The Court should order proper certification of the Dominion ICX
systems by the Secretary or, alternatively, enjoin the use of the Dominion ICX
systems and require a manual (hand) recount.
Two similar lawsuits were recently filed in Mesa and El Paso Counties, stating “…it is illegal to continue to use the system.”
It seemed only natural that the EC would support efforts for honest elections since Boulder County Republicans have long been a leader in election integrity under the tutelage of Al Kolwicz. His obituary reminds us: “…he retired and founded the non-partisan Colorado Voter Group that included election integrity experts working to improve Colorado's election system. Members frequently testified on statutes before the Colorado Legislature, and on election regulations at the Colorado Secretary of State's office. Al spent the rest of his working life as an advocate for voting in person on an anonymous paper ballot, using secure, accurate, and verifiable records and procedures.” See Al’s Election Integrity Report from 2016 – the last year Colorado voters were able to “cast” their ballots. (See pages 26 -29)
Both the BCR and Colorado Republican Committee Bylaws state that a purpose of the party is to “perform the functions set forth in the election laws of the State of Colorado.”
Boulder County Republican canvass board members have refused to certify most of the elections in Boulder County since 2012 because the election laws weren’t followed, and the results could not be verified. With this excellent chance to verify a questionable part of the elections, shouldn’t we support it?
The Colorado Republican Committee’s “Commitment to Colorado” doesn’t even mention election integrity. I asked Chairman Kristi Burton Brown (KBB) why – she said, “It’s implied in #8.” The official stance of the state party is that Colorado has the “Gold Standard” of elections. Candidates were told that if they didn’t talk about questionable election integrity, especially in the 2020 election, the party would “get them over the finish line.” Not surprisingly, NONE of the candidates who campaigned on election integrity won their primary election, even though most of them were elected by the grassroots through the caucus and assembly process.
Open primary elections, which allow people not affiliated with the party to choose the party’s candidates, is a problem that KBB refused to help solve by not even writing a brief in the lawsuit to close them.
The CRC’s election integrity plan claims “Our #1 goal is to make sure Jena Griswold is defeated in 2022.” It’s absurd on its face to expect to correct election problems by having another doubtful election. Also absurd is thinking that elections will improve under Pam Anderson, a CTCL Director, who The Establishment favors and who “won” over Tina Peters in the primary.
Many Republican organizations outside Colorado have written resolutions that go so far as to reject the certification of the 2020 Presidential Election. (Republican canvass board members in four Colorado counties, including Boulder, refused to certify the 2020 election.) The election process hasn’t been improved. Shouldn’t we support a candidate who paid handsomely to verify Colorado's 2022 primary election results with a manual recount?
Here are some of the resolutions:
• Two counties in Montana - https://montanafreepress.org/2022/07/14/republican-resolutions-reject-biden-presidency-surface-in-montana/
• Texas GOP - https://texasgop.org/2022conventionresolution and https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/20/politics/texas-gop-convention-resolution/index.html
• Maricopa County Republican Committee - https://www.redvoicemedia.com/2022/07/maricopa-county-republican-committee-makes-major-announcement-regarding-results-of-2020-election/
• The Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Langlade County, Wisconsin - https://citizenwells.substack.com/p/langlade-county-wisconsin-resolution
• Brevard Republican Executive Committee - https://brevardrepublicans.org/2022/07/brevard-republican-election-integrity-resolution-7-13/
Colorado’s elections are historically not trustworthy and there are now many concerned citizens studying the elections and proving weaknesses and outright fraud. Tina Peters and El Paso Candidates discussed their lawsuits and described the Moment of Truth Summit, where representatives from all 50 states described similar problems, including their state's Republican party. The party may think we’re too daft to understand the problems – or the party may be part of the problem – but ELECTIONS are the central purpose of political parties. If the party won’t demand elections are done right, their officers need to be replaced.
For those on the Boulder County Republican Executive Committee, I would advise that you do not accept the Chairman and Vice Chairmans resignations and you allow them to continue serving in their elected capacity, but only on one condition; if they agree to support the efforts of Tina Peters and the El Paso County candidates to make the Democrat Secretary of State prove, with the MANUAL recount that their campaigns paid for, that Colorado’s elections are indeed the “Gold Standard” and can be trusted to provide honest results for Colorado’s electorate. If the officers refuse to support justice for the duly nominated primary election candidates, I suggest their resignations are accepted and the vacancies be filled with people who will stand with those pursuing honest elections.
For Republicans throughout Colorado, please consider asking your Republican Executive Committee members to publicly support the recounts. If not now, when? If not us, who?