During a segment about electronic voting machines on the November 5 broadcast of KMGH's 7News at 10 p.m., 7News aired Colorado Republican Secretary of State Gigi Dennis's claim that Colorado has “some of the toughest security right now in the country” with respect to electronic voting and that Colorado voting machines are “very dependable and reliable.” However, 7News failed to report that, according to a Denver district judge's September ruling, Dennis's office failed to properly certify the voting machines. As noted at the time by The Denver Post, "[V]oters across the state who cast ballots on electronic voting machines will rest their choices for local, gubernatorial and congressional races on new technology that has not been properly certified." The Post further reported that the judge found that as of September, “Dennis' office never created minimum security standards for the machines -- as required by state law.” As the Rocky Mountain News noted, the judge ordered the Secretary of State's office to adopt a series of new security regulations.

7News weekend anchor Mitch Jelniker began the November 5 report about Colorado's voting machines by noting that “most of the metro area counties have switched to those new electronic voting systems. The idea, one of the ideas, is to get you in and out of one of these polling places much faster.” Jelniker also recounted voting problems in past elections before reporting Dennis's comments regarding the security of Colorado's voting machines:

JELNIKER: Remember the painfully slow vote count in Boulder last presidential election? And who can forget what happened in Florida in 2000? Printing errors on ballots. Dangling chads. Poorly trained election judges.

All things of the past, say election officials.

DENNIS: We have some of the toughest security right now in the country.

7News also quoted Dennis as saying, “The voting machines, I think, are just, are very high tech and they're very dependable and reliable. People should not be fearful of them.”

However, Jelniker did not report that on September 22, Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares ruled against Dennis's office over a lawsuit alleging that her office did not properly certify Colorado's direct recording electronic voting systems (DREs). The judge noted that Dennis “argued that she relied in large part on federal ITA [independent testing authority] testing to establish the security of DREs” but that “reports of ITA testing reveal that certain DREs were not subjected to software security tests that would reveal the software's vulnerability to malicious software attacks or tampering by telecommunication or data transfer.” The judge also noted that vulnerabilities to “tampering and reprogramming” were “neither recognized nor addressed by any security measures” and that the DREs were not “adequately” tested “against those minimum security requirements.” The court ruled Dennis had to create a rule for county clerk and recorders to implement the minimum security standards that were supposed to have been put in place. Manzanares ordered Dennis's office to “promulgate a rule containing minimum security standards for DREs as required” by existing statute.

Following the court ruling, the Post reported on September 23, “Coloradans will head to polls in November with the lowest level of confidence in recent memory, experts say, after a judge condemned the methods used to certify electronic voting machines across the state.” The Post further reported:

Secretary of State Gigi Dennis' office never created minimum security standards for the machines - as required by state law, Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares said Friday. And he said the state did an “abysmal” job of documenting testing during the certification process.

So voters across the state who cast ballots on electronic voting machines will rest their choices for local, gubernatorial and congressional races on new technology that has not been properly certified.

The Post noted that, according to Manzanares, Colorado's voting “machines still can be used because 'decertifying all the machines in the state ... would create more problems than it would solve.' ” The article also reported, “But after the election, the machines will have to be certified again under a better process, the judge ruled.”

Similarly, the Rocky Mountain News reported on September 28 that “Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares ruled last week that Dennis' office had failed to sufficiently test the machines, but he said it was too late to ban them. He ordered the state and the plaintiffs to jointly write tighter security rules.” According to the News:

Secretary of State Gigi Dennis on Wednesday issued new security rules for computerized voting in the November election, under orders from a judge concerned about possible tampering.

The new rules include a tight chain of custody for the machines. Multiple numbered security seals will be used, and if the seals are broken, election officials must double-check that the machines are reliable, or pull them from use.

Paul Hultin, attorney for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that tried to have the machines banned from the upcoming vote in Colorado, was not impressed.

“What we've done is put a lot of duct tape on the Titanic,” he said.

Responded Dennis: “These security plans will be the strongest in the nation. Ninety percent of the recommendations came from the suggested documents that Mr. Hultin provided. If he's not happy with it, shame on him.”

A September 23 Associated Press article by Colleen Slevin reported, “The two men running to replace Dennis, Democrat Ken Gordon and Republican Mike Coffman, said they would have to start from square one and make sure the machines were thoroughly tested.” That article further noted, “Coffman also said voters could chose to vote absentee in the fall election if they didn't feel confident in the new machines, echoing a call from one of the plaintiff's lawyers, Andy Efaw and state Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak.”

As Post columnist Diane Carman noted in an October 22 column, Manzanares said that "[t]he secretary's office 'did not carefully evaluate the county security plans and in some cases approved plans that do not substantially comply with the minimum requirements' of the law." As a result, as Carman noted, Manzanares “ordered emergency measures to try to ensure the integrity of the voting process.” Carman further stated:

It's been four weeks since a judge said the secretary of state had done an “abysmal” job of certifying the security of the state's voting system and ordered emergency measures to try to ensure the integrity of the voting process.

That's 19 business days for clerks in all 64 Colorado counties to install video surveillance of voting machines, run background checks on anyone charged with transporting the equipment, put numbered security seals on all machines, provide climate-controlled storage and fulfill the rest of the judge's requirements before early voting begins.

Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Scott Doyle has called it “craziness.”

He said the increased security measures could cost taxpayers $300,000 to $400,000, and “I felt very secure in what our processes were before.”

Alton Dillard, spokesman for the Denver Election Commission, said the new requirements are expected to cost Denver about $120,000.

“We didn't go from no security to security,” he said. “But this was one of those occurrences where there wasn't an option. It was a court order.”

While county clerks and the besieged Secretary of State Gigi Dennis have tried to reassure voters that the systems always have been secure, the eight-page findings of fact and conclusions of law released last week by Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares paint a picture of a flawed patchwork system, vulnerable to manipulation and suffering from lax oversight by the secretary of state.

From the November 5 broadcast of KMGH 7News at 10 p.m.:

ANNE TRUJILLO (co-anchor): New tonight: Is Colorado ready for Election Day? No doubt the candidates are exhausted, and I'm sure you're tired of the political ads. But what about the systems responsible for counting your vote? 7News anchor Mitch Jelniker joins us from one of the polling places here in Denver. And Mitch, they're using the new electronic voting machines.

MITCH JELNIKER (weekend anchor): Absolutely, and most of the metro area counties have switched to those new electronic voting systems. The idea, one of the ideas, is to get you in and out of one of these polling places much faster. But other counties have a mixture of systems. Now that may sound like a hassle, but, to some voters, they like the idea of having a choice on how they cast their ballot.

Remember the painfully slow vote count in Boulder last presidential election? And who can forget what happened in Florida in 2000? Printing errors on ballots. Dangling chads. Poorly trained election judges.

All things of the past, say election officials.

GIGI DENNIS (Colorado Secretary of State): We have some of the toughest security right now in the country.

JELNIKER: And just to make sure, the Department of Justice will be sending monitors to three Colorado jurisdictions for this midterm election. The reason? Well, the feds say they just haven't been here in a while.

Colorado does have some new electronic voting systems.

JOSH LISS (Boulder County Elections): Overall, feedback we've been getting has been very positive.

DENNIS: The voting machines, I think, are just, are very high tech and they're very dependable and reliable. People should not be fearful of them.

JELNIKER: Some people just feel better sliding their paper ballot into the box themselves.

VOTER: I chose paper over electronic because I don't trust the system.

VOTER 2: Because I think it's just a good idea in today's world to have a paper trail.

JELNIKER: Other voters say electronic voting is quicker and allows you to correct mistakes.

VOTER 3: We do a lot of online banking transactions too, which we could be afraid of, but -- I trust it.

JELNIKER: Now, election officials point out that these electronic machines were used in the August primaries and they had no big problems. They can also test them before they are put to use, and they can audit them after the election for added safety. The best thing you can do is to bring maybe your sample ballot with you when you go into the booth so it makes it a little quicker and easier for you. And always, always bring your ID.