Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler garnered national headlines recently when he ordered county clerks in Colorado not to send ballots to registered but inactive voters– and in Colorado that means voters who missed just one election. Detractors called the effort attempted voter suppression and pointed to a host of similar Republican efforts launched nationwide in the wake of the Tea Party-wave election last November that swept Republicans into office across the country. Denver-based Free Speech TV explored the topic this week and asked Colorado Independent reporter John Tomasic, who has reported the story in-depth, to join the discussion.
The discussion touches on stories reported by the Michigan Messenger on a new Brennan Center for Justice report on the new rash of voter laws and on the fact that Michigan appears to be violating federal laws that seek to expand voter registration there.
Note: At the end of the discussion, Tomasic refers to the Denver District judge who ruled against Gessler on the matter of inactive voter ballots as “she.” He meant “he,” as in Judge Brian Whitney.
“Apologies, Judge Whitney! I had Denver County Clerk Debra Johnson’s face playing across my mind,” says Tomasic.
