Elections chief touts wins, gaffes

By Susan Greene
Denver Post????? 16 May 2005??

Secretary of State Donetta Davidson, who has been widely criticized for fumbling Colorado election rules, said Thursday that her successes - and her mistakes - help qualify her to become one of the nation's top election officials.

The Republican is awaiting word from the White House on a $140,300-a-year appointment to the four-member federal Election Assistance Commission.

Watchdogs are split on whether she is qualified.

"She has worked in good faith recently to improve our election system," said Pete Maysmith, whose group, Colorado Common Cause, sued Davidson over her election policies last fall.

But Al Kolwicz, of the Boulder-based Citizens for Accurate Mail Ballot Election Results, said: "It would be a great step backwards for the election process if Donetta Davidson is rewarded for her poor performance by being sent to Washington."

Appointed in 1999 to replace the late Vikki Buckley, Davidson, a former Arapahoe County clerk, has twice been elected Colorado's election chief.

The 2-year-old federal Election Assistance Commission gives states funding to train poll workers, encourages the use of statewide manuals to train election judges, and urges that the process for verifying "provisional" or emergency ballots?? be as open as possible.

Davidson said Thursday she didn't know the the commission funds programs to train poll workers. She waited until nearly half of Colorado's 16,000 election judges were trained last fall before issuing a manual designed to ensure that they all followed the same rules. And she has been criticized for preventing watchdogs from closely monitoring provisional ballot counts.

She was slammed last year because the state's registration rolls bore the names of 6,000 state prisoners and parolees. And as many as 68,000 Coloradans - including Davidson herself - registered more than once.

Davidson was?also criticized for rewriting state election guidelines just days before the Nov. 2 election, leaving voters and poll workers confused about a new voter identification law and provisional ballot rules.

Davidson blamed the Department of Corrections for not warning her about felons, county clerks for not tidying up their registration rolls, and the news media for disseminating inaccurate information.

"Did we have problems? Absolutely," she said Thursday. "But experience, whether you have problems or successes, really helps. ... I do believe I can be of help (in Washington)."

Six months after November's election,?? many of her sharpest critics now credit Davidson for legislation that aims to fix voting problems.

"With her statewide experience, I would imagine she would do a good job for the federal commission," said Mark Grueskin, a Democratic election attorney in Denver.

Others question Davidson's qualifications for the commission.

"She has essentially blocked any independent oversight of elections in Colorado. What kind of record is that to take to Washington?" Kolwicz said.

Conservative activist and El Paso County Commissioner Douglas Bruce is so critical of Davidson that he hopes she snags the federal?? appointment.

"If she's 2,000 miles away from Colorado elections, all the better," he said.