Reporting that "[Republican] Secretary of State Mike Coffman's office is three months behind its deadline to recertify voting systems," an August 23 Denver Post article omitted the fact that a Denver district judge ordered the recertification after finding in 2006 that Republican former Secretary of State Gigi Dennis' (R) office failed to properly certify state voting machines used in the November 7, 2006, election.

The Post further reported that Coffman's failure to meet the deadlines is “leaving clerks in Colorado's 64 counties anxious about finding temporary solutions for the Nov. 6 election.”

As the Post reported on September 24, 2006, Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares had ruled two days earlier that “Dennis' office never created minimum security standards for the [electronic voting] machines -- as required by state law” and that “the state did an 'abysmal' job of documenting testing during the certification process.”

From the August 23 Denver Post article “Voting systems' approval delayed,” by Ann Schrader:

Secretary of State Mike Coffman's office is three months behind its deadline to recertify voting systems, leaving clerks in Colorado's 64 counties anxious about finding temporary solutions for the Nov. 6 election.

The work won't be done until Oct. 1 -- a scant five weeks before the election -- the state notified clerks last week.

“That leaves us in a quandary,” Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson said.

If voting equipment is not recertified, counties must scramble to find a fix.

[...]

Recertification of Colorado's voting systems was mandated in a Denver federal court ruling last September. To settle the case brought by activists who claimed Colorado voting systems were not secure, the secretary of state was required to adopt written rules to ensure security of voting equipment.

After a lengthy process, the rules were set in mid-March, and the four vendors that provide voting systems to the state were told to submit equipment in early April for retesting.

“We were hoping to have this done by July 1, but we had problems getting information from the vendors,” [Coffman's spokesman Jonathan] Tee said, adding that Coffman had to intervene several times.

While the Post did report that “the secretary of state was required to adopt written rules to ensure security of voting equipment,” the article omitted that Dennis' office had been responsible for the lack of security and proper certification. In addition to the September 24, 2006 article, a September 26, 2006, Post editorial [accessed through the Nexis database] noted Dennis' role, admonishing her for her “fail[ure]” to properly certify the machines:

The fact that Secretary of State Gigi Dennis and her staff failed at what should have been their most important assignment this year is sobering, and has left the state's voters in an uncomfortable position. It should be a top priority for the new secretary of state -- Republican Mike Coffman and Democrat Ken Gordon are vying for the job -- to ensure the security of voting systems and restore citizen confidence.

A September 26, 2006, Rocky Mountain News editorial addressing the court's decision likewise stated, “The trial revealed that the process used to certify machines was laughable. The law allowed the state to hire certification 'experts' without requiring those persons to have any formal credentials -- and that's what Dennis did.” According to the editorial:

[T]he court found that Dennis failed to set even minimal security standards for the touch-screen devices before they were approved. This led to some ugly incidents, as in Mesa County, where officials pressured Dennis' expert to approve the machines with little testing so it could use them in the August primary.

It's clear that a top priority for whoever is elected to succeed Dennis in November will be rebuilding Coloradans' faith in the most basic rite of democracy.

Additionally, while the Post reported on August 23 that the recertification “was mandated in a Denver federal court ruling last September,” in fact, the Denver District Court issued the decision.