A bill proposing to make changes in early voting and how voter service polling centers operate could include other election-related changes, after discussions by the Colorado Secretary of State‘s Bipartisan Election Advisory Committee.

State Sen. Jack Tate, R-Centennial, attended the Thursday, Jan. 26, meeting and offered to consider adding some committee recommendations to his Senate Bill 17-071, which is scheduled to be heard by the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee Wednesday, Feb. 1.

“As long as they’re very data-driven, I’m anxious to see if we can’t get some of these things take care of,” Tate told the committee at the end of the meeting. “I’m open to suggestions.”

Currently, Tate’s bill notes that in general elections, counties with at least 25,000 active electors are now required to designate at least one voter service and polling center (VSPC) for each 30,000 active electors during early voting. The bill keeps that provision for the second 7 days of early voting, but for the first 7 days of early voting at least one VSPC would be required for each 75,000 active electors in those counties. For all counties, the bill also removes the requirement that VSPCs be open on the first Saturday in the 15 days before Election Day.

Voter centers changes discussed

Among issues the advisory committee discussed in its last two meetings were whether to eliminate the first week of early voting at VSPCs in general elections, eliminate the first Saturday requirement, decrease the required number of VSPCs in the first 6-10 days of early voting, increase the number of VSPCs on the Monday before and on Election Day.

Martha Tierney with the Colorado Democratic Party said if the number of VSPCs were reduced, “We need to make sure we don’t just look at where we have the most people and their drive times. There’s people with disabilities and some just can’t leave their homes. We need to make sure we look at other ways to serve those voters.”

Colorado Republican Party Chairman Steve House wondered if reducing the number of days VSPCs would have to be open would actually save money in labor and costs like rental or reservation fees.

Statutes now state VSPCs must be open for at least 15 days before and including Election Day in general elections, except for Sundays. For primary and coordinated elections, the minimum number of VSPCs shall be open during, at a minimum, 8 days before and including Election Day, except for Sundays.

For general elections, statutes require each county clerk and recorder to designate a minimum number of VSPCs based on each 30,000 active voters in counties with at least 25,000 active voters during early voting. On Election Day, at least one VSPC must be open for every 15,000 active electors, but no fewer than three. For counties with between 10,000 to 25,000 active electors during early voting, at least one VSPC; on Election Day, at least 3 VSPCs. For counties with fewer than 10,000 active electors and during early voting, at least one VSPC; on Election Day, at least one VSPC must be open.

In primary and coordinated elections, the county clerk and recorder shall designate VSPCs equal to no fewer than the number of county motor vehicle offices  but no fewer than one, and for counties with fewer than 25,000 active electors, only one voter service and polling center is required. Additional locations can be added as necessary.

A Secretary of State rule states the centers must be open during reasonable business hours for at least 8 hours a day Monday through Friday, at least four hours on Saturday and from 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Mailing timeline, school use debated

Other topics were requiring VSPC hours outside traditional work hours, allowing mobile VSPC locations, mandating or encouraging public schools to serve as polling locations and having earlier ballot mailing dates.

Currently, between 18-22 days before an election, the county clerk and recorder or designated election official shall mail ballot packages to each active eligible elector.

“The Postal Service says it takes between 2 to 8 business days for standard delivery, not including Sunday,” said Secretary of State Wayne Williams. “So that can mean it would be the second week of the mailing period before some voters, outside the Denver metro area, get their ballots.”

Williams said if the time period was shortened, many voters would face a short or quick turnaround period to return their ballots in time to be counted. He also noted the two political parties were concerned what a change would mean to their get-out-the-vote efforts and how it could affect those costs.

Ben Schler, internal operations manager in the secretary of state’s office, said he had talked with the Colorado Association of School Boards about how to get school districts to allow the use of schools for VSPCs.

“Much of the reluctance stems from safety issues, but many schools are also scheduled with outside and after-hours activities as long as two years in advance,” Schler said. “They would want to know if having voters and judges in the school would affect those other uses and how both would work at the same time. So that means schools are more likely to say no.”

Denver Elections Division Director Amber McReynolds said she had used Denver Public Schools for several elections but stopped in 2012 because most schools, due to their age, are not American Disability Act compliant.

The committee also talked about mandating a 24-hour drop box in each county and allowing counties to substitute 24/7 drop off locations for VSPC sites under certain circumstances.

“And counties can work with adjacent counties on joint drop box locations,” noted Judd Choate, director of elections in the secretary of state’s office.

The office offers a grant program to reimburse any county that wants to install a drop box. Every county can apply for reimbursement for a percentage of the cost of installation and video surveillance for one drop box, up to $4,000. Counties can apply for consideration for additional reimbursement on a case by case basis.

State Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, said if changes such as substituting drop boxes for VSPCs and reducing the first week of early voting are pursued, the policy and politics of those changes has to be considered and legislation would be likely.

“I’d hate to take anything off the table until all the variables are thoroughly known,” Pabon said. “If you end up pitting one thing against the other, you have fewer choices, so we really need to fully vet all scenarios.”

The committee agreed to meet on Wednesday, Feb. 10, to try to make final recommendations on any changes to rules or statutes.