Gessler’s proposed changes to election rules draw heated objections

Over the course of a five-hour rulemaking hearing Monday, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler probably got the message that a lot of people are unhappy with proposed rules that would stop county clerks from mailing ballots to inactive voters in some elections, change the way canvass boards are selected and give county clerks more power to determine how much access election watchers have.

Colorado GOP donors fly below the radar with maze of 527 committees

In Colorado, organizing, infrastructure and fundraising within the Democratic Party and progressive organizations are the stuff of legend. The story of how liberal mega-millionaires and single-minded cooperation on the left turned this formerly solid red state to purple and blue have been told and retold for years. The story of coordination among conservatives groups, however, and the way millions of dollars each election cycle slosh to candidates and causes on the right has received relatively scant attention.

Ken Gordon leads protest against corporate money in politics

On the 2nd anniversary of the United States Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission, human people gathered on the West Steps of the Colorado Capitol to protest the decision they say granted human-like rights to corporations.

Redistricting is ugly for sure, but a look back at the Midnight Gerrymander reveals a real donnybrook

Redistricting happens every 10 years. It’s the law. It’s never pretty and it is seldom fair, but it always gets done. Last time, it took years and years before the U.S. Supreme Court finally said enough is enough. Will Colorado go down that road again this year? No one knows. Democrats and Republicans will either compromise or they can carry their briefcases from the Capitol to the Court House. It is up to them.

Former majority leader Gordon pounds pavement for Romanoff

During election season, you never know who’s going to knock on your door. If you’re a Democrat in Southeast Denver, though, it may well be Ken Gordon.

Colorado initiative process reaches a tipping point

Colorado voters are making too much law and the wrong kind of law at the ballot box, according to a growing list of elected officials, analysts and experts. Critics of the state’s famously loose ballot-initiative process agree it unnecessarily opens up the state constitution to improperly vetted amendments, which are extremely difficult to rework or repeal. The result: Bad laws that bog down government and generate extended and expensive lawsuits.

Bernie Buescher is Colorado’s next secretary of state

Gov. Bill Ritter has picked state Rep. Bernie Buescher as Colorado’s next secretary of state.

“Thank you for the confidence,” Buescher told the governor. “I will work hard and try to do a good job.”

Ritter announced his pick at a news conference in his office this morning. The position came open when Mike Coffman was elected to congress. In all, 20 people applied; that number was whittled to three, including Buescher, as well as outgoing House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon.

Dusting off the classic videos while Colorado waits

While we’re waiting for confirmation about whether Sen. Ken Salazar is really going to be Secretary of the Interior, and who will be the next senator from Colorado, and who will then maybe be the next U.S. Representative from Colorado, and also who will be the next Colorado Secretary of State and the next state House minority leader and possibly the next assistant minority leader, let’s all relax and amuse ourselves for a few minutes watching Ken Gordon swimming with sharks.

UPDATED: Colorado secretary of state: The most exciting thing ever

UPDATE: The governor’s office announced Tuesday afternoon that state Sen. Ken Gordon and Reps. Andrew Romanoff and Bernie Buescher have made the final cut. According to Ritter spokesman Wil Alston, the governor hopes to have a final decision in early January.

20 apply to be next Secretary of State, but who won’t embarrass Ritter?

OK. The final tally is 20, as in 20 people want to be sworn in to oversee elections and business licensing in Colorado and replace Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who is running off to succeed Republican Tom Tancredo in Congress after drawing the ire of a federal judge for purging 44,000 voters from the rolls at the last minute. As we reported late last week, whoever is picked must not be someone who will embarrass Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, in any way.