A bill designed by Secretary of State Scott Gessler and sponsored by Rep. Chris Holbert, R-Parker, to ensure the integrity of the Colorado voting system is being called a means to reduce voter participation by voters’ rights advocates.
Colorado Senator Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, told the Colorado Independent Tuesday that a bill requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote would protect the integrity of one of Colorado’s most sacred systems. Others disagreed.
Democratic state Sens. Morgan Carroll of Aurora and Lois Court of Denver say stricter penalties and tighter legal definitions should be at the heart of upcoming legislation to prevent abuses to laws regulating those looking to sway public opinion in elections. Both legislators are working with watchdog groups to shore up what they see as serious holes in campaign finance and ethics laws after a mid-term election cycle marred by violations and rumors of clandestine deals.
DENVER– Members of the city council here are considering eliminating a controversial vehicle impound law that has raised financial and constitutional questions. Dan Hayes, the main backer of the law, which passed as a ballot initiative in 2008, told the Colorado Independent that council members opposing the law are merely protecting laws that make Denver a so-called sanctuary city for illegal aliens.
DENVER — On Thursday the Bell Policy Center, a research and advocacy organization based here that seeks to promote economic opportunity, added its voice to the rising tide of concerned politicians, safety workers, and activist groups opposing Ballot Initiative 300, Denver’s so-called impound initiative, which would require police to seize the vehicles of any drivers failing to carry a valid license. Initiative 300 is an updated version of Initiative 100, which passed last year. According to Rich Jones, director of policy and research for the Bell Center, Initiative 300 is not only fiscally unsound but is racially motivated.
The Colorado State University board of governors is moving to install its own former vice chairman, Joe Blake, as system chancellor this month after making little effort to directly address concerns about the lack of transparency that marred the chancellor search process this spring.
Three Colorado watchdog groups have joined together to demand Colorado State University rescind its decision to hire Denver Chamber of Commerce President Joe Blake as the university’s new standalone chancellor.
A federal judge took a swipe at an “obdurate” Secretary of State Mike Coffman this afternoon by ordering Colorado’s top election official to stop violating federal law by purging voters.
The Advancement Project, a voter protection organization, filed suit against Coffman late last week for canceling as many 30,000 voters within 90 days of the federal election, a breach of the National Voter Registration Act. Coffman’s office settled with the Advancement Project late Wednesday evening, agreeing to let purged individuals vote by provisional ballot. But he has purged an additional 146 voters since then.
Voting rights advocates entered into a shaky truce late Wednesday with Secretary of State Mike Coffman’s office over his allegedly illegal purge of 30,000 voters in Colorado.
The Advancement Project, a national voter protection group, filed suit against Coffman late last week to force the secretary to reinstate the voters and halt any new purges. Coffman’s removals included people who moved, inactive citizens, and newly registered individuals whose voter cards bounced back to county clerks. The Advancement Project claimed that Coffman’s removals violated the National Voter Registration Act because they occurred within 90 days of a federal election. Coffman denied any wrongdoing.
Thousands of Coloradans have been denied the right to vote because of a policy that may violate federal law.
Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman has authorized county clerks to purge newly registered voters under the so-called 20-day rule. Here, county clerks must send non-forwardable letters to newly registered voters. If the mail bounces back to the clerks, then they must remove the voter applicants’ names from the rolls.
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