The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Keeping the rolls accurate and legal
by Mark Reaman
A week into the effort to clean up the Crested Butte town voter rolls has resulted in 78 people correcting their addresses. According to county election officials, most of those have been a change of address for people moving within the town of Crested Butte.
The town and county clerk offices are working together to try and update the voter rolls in an effort to make sure that only those physically living within the town boundaries vote in the town elections. Councilman Glenn Michel has voiced strong concern that some people had moved out of town but kept a local post office box and were casting votes in town elections. The clean up is a cooperative effort between the town and county. The town contracted with the county and it sent out 2,869 voter confirmation letters to people in the north end of the valley.
As of early this week, Gunnison County election manager Diane Folowell said the office had gotten a decent response. “We have received 54 returned letters with changes, however, most have been a change of address of moving within the Town of Crested Butte,” she said. “Online changes made as of Monday amounted to 24.”
Crested Butte town clerk Lynelle Stanford said it is easy for people to not prioritize changing their physical address with their voter registration when they move and that could result in receiving the wrong ballot at election time. “We need people to understand the significance of their physical addresses as they relate to elections and ballot issues,” she explained. “A person’s physical address determines the ballot that he or she receives. In the Upper Gunnison Valley, it is not uncommon for a person to retain the same mailing address for years, while moving from place to place. When a voter signs a completed ballot, the voter is making a legal declaration, certifying the information is correct.”
Folowell said the process with the recently mailed notice is easy for voters to complete and provides a couple of options to set the record straight. “We would like to encourage anyone who has changes which need to be made to their voter record to do so, by using the Voter Registration Change Record on the reverse side of the letter which they received and return to the Gunnison County Elections Division as soon as possible,” she said. “We have also enclosed a postage paid, addressed return envelope. If there are no changes, there is not a need to return the letter. The change can also be made online at govotecolorado.com.”
The town itself is conducting the public information campaign aspect in conjunction with the voter registration verification initiative with the County to educate voters as to the importance of being properly registered to vote.
Ballots for this coming fall election will be mailed to voters beginning October 13. “There is not actually a deadline to return the change of address letters. However, in order to accomplish what the Town of Crested Butte desires, they should be received in our office no later than October first,” Folowell said, adding that the county office will always process any address change.
The letter sent out last week is the only notice that the town and county agreed to send in their effort to clean up the rolls. If you have any questions, feel free to call Stanford at 349-5338, Folowell or Gunnison County Clerk and Recorder Kathy Simillion at 641-7927.
Stanford emphasized the effort is being made to clean up the local voting process and keep everything legal. “When a voter signs a completed ballot, the voter is making a legal declaration, certifying the information is correct. Maintaining an up-to-date voter registration that properly reflects one’s physical residence is the law and it is the right thing for the community,” she concluded.
