Info missing on thousands of Denver voters

DENVER, June 10 (UPI) -- The Denver Election Commission has misplaced sensitive material for more than 150,000 voters, the Rocky Mountain News reported.

The missing information, which accounts for about 42 percent of those registered in the city, has prompted fears of possible exploitation by identity thieves, the newspaper said.

The newspaper reported that the filing cabinet containing the voter registrations from 1989-1998 apparently vanished last February during a move to a new office building.

Many election commissioners are angry that top officials were not informed of the situation until June 1, when information was seen posted on an Internet blog, the newspaper said.

City Councilwoman Judy Montero, who discovered the blog posting, demanded to know why it was reporting "that confidential data about Denver voters has been compromised."

City officials alleged the office of the Denver Election Commission has been consistently incompetent, the newspaper said.

Still, City Councilman Doug Linkhart expressed disappointment in the latest mishap.

"I don't know how you misplace a filing cabinet," he said.