New ballot drop box in Denver's East Colfax neighborhood dedicated to Ma Kaing

In an effort to make voting more accessible, Denver election officials have opened a ballot drop box in the East Colfax neighborhood. On Monday, they dedicated it to a beloved community member who was killed by a stray bullet in what city leaders said was a gang-related shooting in 2022.

East Colfax is one of Denver's most diverse neighborhoods, according to the group The Colorado Trust. According to an American Bar Association analysis, areas with large minority populations have historically faced discrimination when it comes to the locations of polling places, and the difficulty of access for members of those communities has a negative effect on voter turnout. Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2013 on the Voting Rights Act, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights found more than 1,000 polling place closures across the country, many of which have negatively affected minority neighborhoods. The Leadership Conference is a coalition of national organizations dedicated to legislative advocacy.

During a dedication ceremony on Monday, Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López said the new ballot box at Colfax Avenue and Valentia Street is an important step towards better representation and will allow residents to make their voices heard.

"This is an area that, for the longest time, has been underserved. [It] has been underserved and underrepresented, but not underorganized. We have a lot of folks here, community members and community leaders, city leaders like Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and everybody before that has fought for this community and continues to fight for this community, and, especially, everyday residents, like Ms. Ma Kaing, who this box is dedicated to," said López. 

Kaing owned the Burmese restaurant Taw Win and was considered a pillar of her east Denver community. In 2022, she was outside her apartment building unloading groceries and was fatally shot. Her tragic death caused an outcry among local residents and inspired many improvements to the neighborhood.

López said community residents are also the driving force behind the push for better representation.

"That spirit, that spirit of community organizing, that spirit of the fight for representation when people need it the most, but also fighting for that community representation in that social justice, with an opportunity to actually make things change. To help change the city. To help elect representation," López said.

The state of Colorado began mailing ballots to residents last week, and all of the ballot drop boxes in Denver opened on Monday. López encouraged the community to cast their ballots and to vote early.

"All you've got to do is take it to one of these drop boxes, and it's emptied out various times a day by Republican and Democratic and unaffiliated election workers working in teams, making sure that they're putting country before part[isanship] and making sure it gets counted. You can do that 24 hours a day at these drop boxes. This camera is watching those drop boxes. They're well lit; they're accessible," he said.