Morning rounds

The story currently making the rounds (and note, it is just another story, likely just another wild tale spun by the provider or the subject, who has more lies than vacation days) is that the hospital board ballots have been "intercepted" from the mail stream, and are sitting in the Estes Park Medical Center CEO's office.

So, if true (and I repeat, if true) this is NOT a situation "out of their control".  This is very much a situation within their control.  Get a bunch of staff together and sort out those addressed to Estes Park post office box numbers from the Estes Park physical addresses from the out-of-town box numbers and physical addresses, and make a decision how much you want to spend.  The Estes Park post office box numbers can just get a regular stamp and, with a kind word to the local postmaster, should be able to make it into boxes by tomorrow at the latest.  The others?  Well, I guess it depends on how long these purported ballots have been sitting in the purported CEO office.  They probably could have made it out to Estes Park physical addresses by Monday, but they have to be actually placed in the mail in order to have a chance to make in to those physical addresses.  And I would think the out-of-town addresses should just be placed in the mail as soon as possible and the deadline for receiving them extended by a week or more, similar to the UOCAVA ballots as far as allowing more cushion on the return (question:  Were the UOCAVA ballots ever mailed out?).

It's all a matter of how many people you want to disenfranchise.  I would say "legally disenfranchise", but in the United States, it is presumably illegal to deny qualified people their right to vote.  So is it all a matter of how many people the hospital board thinks they can "sloppily disenfranchise" and still remain on the hospital board.

That's a tough call.  I'm glad I'm not the board members having to pretend to be interested in making the situation right.