Thread: Nearly 1 in 5 Coloradans now Latino

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4181058

Article Launched: 8/15/2006 01:00 AM

denver & the west
Nearly 1 in 5 Coloradans now Latino

By Elizabeth Aguilera
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

Nearly one in five Coloradans is now Latino, according to new Census data.

Latinos made up 19.5 percent of the state's population in 2005, up from 17.6 percent in 2001, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Jennifer Herrera contributed to that increase 18 months ago when she and her family moved to Colorado from Texas for her husband's job.

"(Colorado) is a place we can make home for the long term," she said. "We want to make this the kind of place we want to live."

Nationally, Hispanics made up an estimated 14.5 percent of the population in 2005. In 2001 the Census Bureau estimated the U.S. population at 13.1 percent Hispanic.

In Colorado the Latino population grew from 760,078 in 2001 to an estimated 891,614 last year - an increase of 17.3 percent. That total includes newborns, transplants from other states and immigrants.

The Census Bureau does not ask or include information about the legal residency status of immigrants.

The overall state population grew 5.7 percent to 4.5 million since 2001. Latinos account for more than half of the new growth in Colorado.

"That's not surprising because most of our growth is occurring in the Hispanic population and it's (been) forecast that way forever," said Elizabeth Garner, Colorado state demographer.

Herrera, who teaches part time at Colorado Technical University and volunteers as an immigrant advocate, sees the allure of Colorado.

"People are looking for alternatives like Colorado or Washington (state) where the cost of living is lower and they can afford to buy a home."

The figures from 2001 and 2005 are from surveys and are estimates of the population, not actual counts. The Census Bureau surveys 10,000 people to calculate population trends.

Demographers discourage comparing the data sets from 2001 and 2005 because of small sample sizes and different questions asked each year.

State demographers are not surprised by the growth, saying it only stands out because domestic migration - movement of people from other states into Colorado - has decreased as job growth has slowed in certain sectors.

Meanwhile, the boom in construction, agricultural and tourism jobs has kept foreign-immigration levels steady since 2000.

The change "describes what kind of jobs are being created and causing people to move to Colorado. It's a reflection of what is going on in the economy," said Jeff Romine, economist at New West Economics, a consulting firm.

Pablo Zamora, a migrant worker near Brighton, arrived in Colorado four years ago from Mexico.

"The work here is hard but it's why I came here, to work," he said. He hopes to educate his children, who are in Mexico.

Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera can be reached at 303-820-1372 or eaguilera@denverpost.com.

"People are looking for alternatives like Colorado or Washington (state) where the cost of living is lower and they can afford to buy a home."

So much for a guest worker program. These folks aren't going to let their immigration status stop them from setting down permanent roots. That is why the loophole available to mortgage lenders to lend to illegals must be closed.

Most of them don't speak English, but I think they register to vote. In last elections Salazar won and there was a overwhelming registration on new latino voters.
Salazar won by about 6000 votes
http://www.ac4vr.com/reports/072005/colorado.html

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Colorado
(A) Vote Fraud & Irregularities In Colorado

According to The Denver Post, prosecutors in at least 47 Colorado counties investigated cases “involving accusations of forged signatures, felons voting or people who attempted to vote twice.” (144) The paper reported the following numbers on vote fraud and irregularities during the November 2004 election:

122 people voted twice statewide, casting absentee ballots through the mail, then showing up in person to vote on Election Day;

120 felons cast illegal ballots statewide;

In Denver, 81 residents voted twice and 52 felons cast ballots;

In Jefferson County, elections officials requested that prosecutors investigate 30 cases of people attempting to vote twice and 256 cases of suspicious signatures on absentee ballots;

In El Paso County, officials reported 23 cases or prisoners or parolees who voted. (145)
Less than one month before Election Day, The Denver Post reported that Colorado’s voter rolls contained as many as 6,000 felons ineligible to vote, enough to “tip the outcome of the election” or “force the outcome of any close race into the courts.” The Post reported that felons had illegally voted as recently as the August 2004 primary, and that many of the 536 felons who registered to vote in 2004 did so through voter registration drives run by third-party groups. Workers in those groups reportedly “eager to sign up new voters assured them they could lawfully register and vote.” One group, the Colorado Voting Project, reportedly signed up 77 voters on a single day in the Denver County Jail. (146)
(B) Voter Registration Fraud Indictments In Colorado

At least 7 Colorado residents working for voter registration drives have been indicted and/or pleaded guilty to vote fraud charges stemming from the 2004 election.

ACORN worker’s girlfriend who admitted to signing up three friends to vote 40 times and registering herself 25 times was charged with 15 counts of felony forgery; (147)

ACORN worker plead guilty to filling out false voter registration forms for the November election, sentenced to a year probation and 150 hours of community service; (14

ACORN worker charged in October with falsely filling out multiple voter forms; (149)

Man charged with five counts of perjury for filling out several phony registration forms for ACORN workers; (150)

Two men indicted on 19 and 29 counts of forgery, respectively, related to voter-registration drives; (151)

Man charged with forging 48 voter-registration applications. (152)
(c) ACORN And Other Third-Party Groups Linked To Hundreds Of Fraudulent Voter Registrations In Colorado
In the months leading up to Election Day 2004, ACORN and other third-party voter registration groups were linked to hundreds of fraudulent registration submitted to elections officials across the state. In October, Denver’s 9 News reported “widespread voter registration fraud” committed by groups such as ACORN that “could affect thousands of Colorado votes and cause chaos at the polls on November 2nd.” (153)

“A review of voter registration forms in five counties has revealed hundreds of potentially fraudulent forms. KUSA-TV reported Monday that it found 719 forms in Denver, Douglas, Adams, Boulder and Lake counties that had the wrong names, social security numbers and dates of births for voters. Many of the forms were turned in by voter registration drives which pay their workers based on the number of people they sign up.” (154)

The 9 News report stated that “most of the fraud has come from registration drives,” and identified ACORN, New Voters Project and Colorado Progressive Coalition as among the groups whose employees submitted the bogus forms. (155)

The 9 News report indicated that some of the fraudulent forms it discovered were “completely bogus” and filled in with fake “names, addresses, social security numbers or dates of birth.” Other fraudulent forms were submitted in the names of legitimate voters, with “one or two facts changed that could affect their registration when they show up at the polls November 2nd.” For example, Colorado resident Tom Stanislawski had registered six months prior to being fraudulently re-registered and having his party identification changed. “My concern would be I’d walk in November 2nd and be unable to vote,” Stanislawski said. (156)

Other examples of voter registration fraud cited by the 9 News report included Kym Cason, who told a reporter that in order to help her boyfriend, who worked for ACORN, she “registered herself 25 times and her friends 40 times.” (157) Cason was charged with 15 counts of felony forgery and five counts of misdemeanor procuring false registrations in November 2004. (15 Gerald Obi told 9 News that voter registration drive workers “pressured him to keep registering to vote,” and he ultimately registered 35 times. The report found that several prisoners, including alleged child molester John Turner, registered from behind bars in Douglas and Adams counties. Meanwhile, in Boulder County, more than 2,000 people have had eight or more changes to their voter registration forms. (159)

Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter said that the people admitting to voter registration fraud in 9 News’ report needed to be prosecuted. “People are trying to corrupt the election process. People should be prosecuted,” Ritter said. (160)

ACORN and other groups were implicated in fraudulent registration activity around Colorado. In August, after three prosecutors joined a criminal probe by the state Attorney General’s office into potentially fraudulent registrations in three counties, ACORN said that it “might be responsible” for some of the activity. (161) In October, ACORN admitted that its employees had submitted hundreds of fake registration forms in Colorado. (162) However, as ACORN admitted its culpability in the registration fraud the group also lashed out at the press. According to one report, ACORN’s Western regional director, Jim Fleischmann, “downplayed the severity of the problem,” saying, “Just because you register someone 35 times doesn’t mean they get to vote 35 times … The local press is having a feeding frenzy on this.” (163)

9 News reported that there was a “record number of fraudulent registrations across” Colorado in 2004. (164) Election officials agreed that the level of fraudulent voter registration activity was unprecedented in Colorado history. “Everyone here at the commission has never seen anything like this. In the state we’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Denver clerk and recorder Karon Hatchett. (165)

Kerry campaign officials in Colorado dismissed concerns about voter registration fraud in the state, calling it a “tired tactic” by the Republicans to suppress votes. After Secretary of State Donetta Davidson warned voter registration drive leaders about fraud, Sue Casey, Colorado state director for the Kerry-Edwards campaign, responded by saying Davidson’s comments were aimed at creating “an environment of fear” to discourage voters from showing up on Election Day.

“‘This is the classic move by Republican tacticians: create an environment of fear that discourages voters from showing up on Election Day, for this is the only way they know how to win,’ said Sue Casey, Kerry-Edwards 2004 Colorado state director. Casey said the tactic had worked for Republicans in Florida in 2000. ‘And now that they see Colorado slipping out of their previously firm grasp, they are bringing this tired tactic to the Centennial State.’” (166)

(D) Partisan Tactics In Colorado Voter Registration Drives

According to a 9 News report, a voter registration group operating in Colorado under the name “Choose 2 Vote” paid workers $3 for each Democrat or independent voter they registered and nothing for Republican applications. (167) The group admitted to only being interested in Democrat registrations:

“Company spokesman Derrick Lee admitted to 9NEWS he was only interested in registering Democrats. ‘Yeah, what do you want me to say? It’s true,’ said Lee. ‘The Republicans weren’t paying money for voter registrations.’” (16

However, one Colorado county received so many questionable registration forms from “Choose 2 Vote” that it turned them over to the Secretary of State for investigation. And in August, “Choose 2 Vote” worker John McCarthy was charged with forgery and procuring false registrations for nearly 50 voters. (169)

Canvassers for Moving America Forward, a voter registration group active in Colorado and other states in 2004, were reportedly instructed to re-register people who indicated that they were supporters of Democrat Senate candidate Ken Salazar and “walk away” from backers of Republican Senate candidate Pete Coors. (170) Moving America Forward is a political committee affiliated with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. (171)
More at
October 14, 2004


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