Rogue Elections Comm'r Dislikes My Criticism of His Refusal To Certify NorCo Election Results

Yesterday, I took NorCo Elections Comm'r Scott Hough to task for his refusal to certify the 2023 election results. Despite going rogue and refusing to follow the very election law he is required to administer, he was re-appointed by County Council last week by a 7-1 vote (Ken Kraft being the sole dissenter). The appointment of an elections commissioner who selectively decides which elections laws he's willing to follow is a mistake, at least in my view.  Late last night, Hough took me to task for my criticism. I responded. This is our exchange:

Scott Hough: "For the record, no one, including Glenn Geissinger, had a conversation with me on how to handle the certification. I made a decision based on not having all the information I felt the commission needed to make a certification. This includes the concerns of dozens of voters who showed up that day. I was requesting (as I had previous to that meeting) to investigate the situation and information gather. Moving forward, please don’t assert that I am beholden to anyone. No one is pulling my strings."

"Secondly, when the documents were handed to me, I told the solicitor, Mr. Santee, that I couldn’t sign them in good faith. I was taught a long time ago not to sign anything I was unsure of, I was not sure those machine results were correct PERIOD and therefore was not comfortable.

"You have my phone number and email, next time feel free to call and ask me questions before you defame me in posts by stating I broke the law and implying I’m a criminal. The election was certified. I have not been charged or arrested. I’m thankful to the Commissioners and the County Executive for reappointing me. There is work to be done to get to the bottom of last year’s fiasco and to do everything we can to not lose anymore faith from the voters.

"I hope you’ll join in reporting on the Election Commission actually being able to do its job and run a fair and transparent election."

My response: - Listen Scott, There was no need to call you. The facts are quite clear. You went rogue. You refused to certify the election results even though it is a statutory obligation and you were quoted the law by your solicitor. You were urged not to certify by a mob at the elections commission hearing and that included the urging of GOP Chair Glenn Geissinger, who spoke publicly. There were several GOP lawyers at that meeting, and not one of them advocated that you refuse to certify.

Nobody defamed you, but if you feel that I defamed you by reporting truthfully that you went rogue and did so after the public urging of your party chair, please knock yourself out and sue. See where that gets you.

Your refusal to certify might have been more damaging to those who who wished to challenge.

Throughout your tenure as an elections comm'r, you have made some worthwhile suggestions, which I have noted in the past. But I'd never vote for someone who choses for himself which laws he will follow and which he won't concerning an election. Your refusal just continued to undermine public confidence in our elections.

It is not a "commission" that confirmed your nomination. It is county council. They may call themselves commissioners, but are still known as county council.

I did not call you a criminal. I said you broke the law, and you did. Had a majority refused to certify, they would have been subjected to a mandamus requiring certification or contempt of court.

The simple reality is that you went rogue and played to the mob.