Opinion ID: 1257891
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Case Law Argument

Text: Case law supports our decision to reject the four contested ballots. The reasoning of Baldwin, Heiskell, and Young demonstrates that a ballot must be liberally construed so as to be counted where the elector's intent can be discerned. See Baldwin, 50 Colo. at 113, 114 P. at 400-01; Heiskell, 23 Colo. at 68, 46 P. at 121; Young, 21 Colo. at 462, 42 P. at 667. This principle retains its vitality today. Cf. Erickson v. Blair, 670 P.2d at 754-55 (rejecting rule of strict compliance in absentee voting cases in favor of substantial compliance standard). Where the elector's intention cannot be discerned, however, the elector's right to have the ballot count must give way to the right of the electorate to a fair and accurate count. We find the facts in this case to resemble more closely the facts in Heiskell than the facts in Young or Baldwin. As in Heiskell, the voters in this case marked two places on the ballot indicating a choice of two candidates for one office, and it was not possible to ascertain the voter's preference for one candidate. Unlike Baldwin, the ballots in this case do not demonstrate a preference for Moran.