FELON SON'S BALLOT STANDS IN ELECTION

A Weld County grand jury investigation found no wrongdoing in the
Dacono mayor's one-vote victory in the last election.

The grand jury got involved in late December when election officials
discovered that the mayor's son - a convicted felon - cast the
deciding vote in the race. Under state law, convicted felons may not
vote in elections.

A recount showed that incumbent Wade Carlson defeated challenger
Larry Johnston 368-367. Carlson's son, Jon Carlson, was convicted in
2006 for attempted marijuana cultivation.

A grand jury report released Friday said Jon Carlson's parole
officers never told him he could not vote while on parole. State law
also does not require a parole officer to tell a parolee of the
voting prohibition, the report said.

Jon Carlson requested an absentee ballot and on Oct. 25, 2006, his
ballot was received and recorded by the Weld County clerk and
recorder. Two days later, his name was removed from Weld County's
registered voter list because of his parole status.

But no one looked to see if Carlson had already voted, so his ballot
was counted, the report said.

The grand jury determined that Jon Carlson did not knowingly violate
the law by voting and election officials only mistakenly counted his vote.

Wade Carlson said Monday that he learned two months ago that his son
was not going to be charged with any crime in relation to his vote.

"That's all there was to it," Carlson said. "It's old hat, old news."