Be ready to show ID if you want to vote in the Aug. 12 primary election.

That’s the message from El Paso County election officials today. Some people who vote by mail don’t have to show ID, unless they didn’t do it when they first registered to vote. The mail-in ballot envelope indicates whether to include a copy of an ID, such as a driver’s license.

It’s a different story for people who vote at an early voting site or at a polling place on Election Day. Those people have to show one in a long list of acceptable forms of identification. For most people, a driver’s license, ID issued by the Department of Revenue or a passport will work.

Early voting for the primary election will be Aug. 2 and Aug. 4 to 8 at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office downtown office, or kiosks in the Chapel Hills Mall and The Citadel mall. Polling places on Election Day will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For details, visit http://car.elpasoco.com/election or call 575-8683.

Backing BentleyBentley Rayburn, candidate for the GOP nomination in the 5th Congressional District, picked up a couple of endorsements recently.

Former State Sen. Ken Chlouber said Rayburn would be a good addition to Congress, which doesn’t have enough veterans. Rayburn is a retired Air Force major general.

Long-time Republican faithful Mary Harold also has endorsed Rayburn after being torn over who to support for months.

Although she said “all three candidates are good men,” because the nation is at war “I believe the person whose background has best prepared him to become our next U.S. Representative is Gen. Bentley Rayburn.”

The doctors are in Another 5th District candidate, Jeff Crank, a Colorado Springs businessman, is backed by the Colorado Medical Political Action Committee.

“Jeff shares our mutual conviction that we must act now to restore and preserve a just, efficient and affordable health care system,” the PAC’s chair Lee Morgan said in a statement. The endorsement comes with a $5,000 campaign contribution.

Crank also was endorsed by the following newspapers : The Denver Post, Mountain Mail and The Colorado Springs Independent. The Pueblo Chieftain has already endorsed Crank.

The Denver Post said Crank is “best suited for the job,” while the Mountain Mail urged a vote for Crank as a fiscal conservative who “advocates lower taxes, a balanced budget and spending discipline.”

McElhaney’s recommendationSen. Andy McElhaney wrote a letter to supporters asking them to “condemn the tactics” of Rep. Doug Lamborn, who’s seeking re-election in the 5th District.

The letter reminds them that then retiring Rep. Joel Hefley labeled Lamborn’s campaign “sleazy” two years ago when other candidates were labeled gay sympathizers, but that voters had voted for Lamborn early before the campaign turned nasty.

“Please don’t make the same mistake again in 2008,” McElhaney.

McElhaney was referring to Lamborn’s campaign ads that accuse Jeff Crank of “lying” about his opponents and misrepresenting Crank’s position that he would not seek earmarks and that they should be banned.

Lamborn suggests Crank lobbied for earmarks, but McElhaney said that’s not true. “He has never advocated for an earmark,” he said.McElhaney also said Lamborn is “hiding from voters” by not participating in debates.

Lamborn said he stands by his ads.

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