Injunction to Extend Poll Hours Denied

UPDATED 5:01 PM MST: John Hickenlooper on Channel 7 “This is an outrage.” Encouraged people to go to FairVote Colorado to find polling locations for the shortest wait times.

UPDATED 4:23 PM MST: A source close to the situation tells Colorado Confidential that there will not be an appeal of Rappaport’s decision.UPDATED 3:18 PM MST: Judge Rappaport turned down the injunction claiming “I do not have the authority to extend voting in Denver County” according to Kerri Rebresh reporting live from Denver District Court. Scott Gessler spoke on behalf of the Colorado GOP to oppose the Democrats’ request for relief.

UPDATED 2:13 PM MST:Aside from the idea that people who want to vote should be allowed to vote, Denver voting problems could wreak havoc on tonight’s results. Click here to read why.

UPDATED 2:08 PM MST:The injuction is currently being debated in Denver County Court.

UPDATED 1:45 PM MST: Correspondent Kerri Rebresh called the Colorado Republican Party for comment on the injunction. A staffer tersely responded “Our communications guys is unavailable.”

UPDATED 1:42 PM MST: Correspondent Erin Rosa reports that Democratic lawyers are in court right now and a decision had not been made as of yet regarding the injunction. According to Brian Mason, communications director with the Colorado Democratic Party, voters were being turned away at vote centers. He cited problems with accessing the computer database to verify voter identities, and said that some polling places were running out of provisional ballots.

UPDATED 1:37 PM MST: The Secretary of State has just issued a press release saying that the statewide election process is “running smoothly.”

UPDATED 1:11 PM MST: According to Dan Slater, vice chair of the CDP, that city workers are being sent to the polls to assist at the vote centers with crowd control and computer help.

UPDATED 12:10 PM MST: CDP spokesman Brian Conway confirmed that the party is taking a request for relief to Denver District Court immeidately on behalf of Denver County voters due to technical problems at the polls this morning.

Original post from 11:49 AM MST: CNN is reporting that lawyers for the Colorado Democratic Party are enroute to file an injunction in Denver District Court to extend voting time in Denver County an additional two hours because of massive problems at vote centers.

Newsreports claim that voter rolls were not ready at 7am when the polls opened causing long lines to form. Power outages and general problems with voting machines have also been cited.

More as information as it becomes available.

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