Last week, Angela Myers, Larimer County Clerk and Recorder gave a presentation entitled “Upcoming Elections and New Voting Laws”. Her informal/interactive style was evident when she immediately left the podium and began by asking questions. Myers has worked in the Clerk’s office since May 2003 and was appointed to her current office in May 2013. She was elected in November 2014 and reelected in 2018.
The first and most important question was – What are the Clerk’s duties and why should they matter to the citizens of Larimer County? The correct answers were provided by the audience-1) Conduct elections 2) Maintain County records and 3) Vehicle registration. She reminded us that three of four important elections remain this year - the presidential primary (March 3), the general primary (June 30) and the presidential election (November 3).
Almost the entire thirty minutes were in the Question and Answer format. Some examples-
How does vehicle registration in Larimer County compare and what do the collected funds support? Answer - Angela created a model for appointments (vs walk-ins) at the MVR office which is widely praised and imitated. A complete breakdown of the use of collected funds is available online.
A question (perhaps on everyone’s mind) regarding the security of our elections was asked - Angela was reassuring with a detailed response – citing the problem (hundreds of daily hacking attempts), the security of our voting machines, the generation of a paper ballot, the counting process completely separate from the Internet and the role of election judges.
Other questions highlighted the ongoing need for digitalization of older paper deeds and records, safeguards against vendor manipulation of voting machines and the procedures for validating and recounting votes in close races. Another timely question was asked about the process of voter removal with a reassuring answer that only felons and the deceased were routinely removed whereas voters may be placed in an inactive list after not voting in 2 consecutive elections.
Finally some do’s and don’ts: never sign another’s ballot, never give your ballot to anyone, always sign yours (required before opening the envelope), remove the stub, vote early (and please read the instructions!). Also, new rules: 17 year-olds can vote in primaries if they will be 18 years old by Election Day; 2 primary ballots will be sent to unaffiliated voters (return only one!).
Handouts at the tables supported the presentation including the Clerk’s contact information, contact information for our state representatives, a reminder to register and vote, an invitation to become an election judge and a really cool calendar.