Registration open until October 6
By Laura Forbes
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 8:49 p.m.
Read more: Local, State, National, Politics, Education, Election, Colorado Springs, Morning Show
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The El Paso County Clerk and Recorders Office says it made a mistake when it told students at Colorado College who are eligible to vote in Colorado that they can't.
An e-mail to Colorado College sent in March states that students whose parents still claim them as dependents in another state can't vote in Colorado.
That information was posted on the college web site. Wednesday the clerk acknowledged that was misinformation. But with the deadline to register less than two weeks away, some Democrats are concerned students' votes are being suppressed.
"This is my community. This is where I live. This is where I get involved," said CC junior and Obama Campus Coordinator Ben Slaugher. He says many students feel connected to Colorado, although they come from out of state. He says an untold number thought they couldn't vote here--because of a mistake by the clerk's office.
"Me personally, I've heard from 10 or 15 people who have said, 'I read this on the website,' or 'I heard this from other people. I'm going to stay registered at home,'" he said.
Although El Paso County election manager Liz Olson acknowledges the error, she puts the responsibility on the students. "It's not our job to tell people whether they are eligible to vote here in El Paso County. We've never done that nor would we do that. It's up to that student to make that determination," she said.
Some Democrats believe this may have been done for partisan reasons.
Pat Waak is the Democratic state party chair. "Was this letter sent to the University of Colorado here in Colorado Springs? Was it sent to the Air Force Academy, or was this targeted to one campus?" she asked.
"We were asked by Colorado College to send information during this busy election season for their newsletter, so that was the only location that was provided," said Olson. She says the slip-up was not intentional and "certainly not" partisan.
Slaughter says the question now is,"How will they make it right?" I hope that there would be more of an effort than that to re-educate people because students don't have much time to register. Nobody does at this point," he said.
The registration deadline is October 6. Persons who yet need to register can access El Paso County Clerk and Recorder's web site via the link here: http://car.elpasoco.com/NR/exeres/FAE9C579-43F3-48DC-B019-CC1CD3FC86F5
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