Tag: Secretary Of State

Clear the Bench Colorado, a group seeking to replace Supreme Court justices at the ballot this November, was advised by Secretary of State Bernie Buescher's office to register last spring as an issues committee even though the group originally filed as a political action committee, according to documents obtained by the Colorado Independent. Clear the Bench last week was the subject of a complaint filed by Colorado Ethics Watch, which is arguing that the organization is mis-categorized and, as a result, can collect unlimited funds in its effort to target the justices. It's a reality that works against the specific wishes of Colorado citizens who voted to restrict the flow of money into judicial elections to limit the chance for corruption, according to Ethics Watch.

Voters in Colorado care about clean elections and voted through a ballot initiative specifically to enact laws governing campaign finances in 2002. Lawbreakers have been caught and fined. But that's apparently where enforcement ends. The list of groups violating the law includes an increasing number that simply skirt the fines judges have levied against them. Secretary of State Bernie Buescher now seems determined to go after the deadbeats, but his office told the Colorado Independent that the law, as it stands now, simply lacks teeth.

Louis Schroeder came to the State Capitol on Friday to attend a review hearing on a ballot initiative he authored that aims to radically reduce Colorado property taxes. Schroeder and four staff members from the government's Legislative Council and Legal Services offices sat around a long table in a narrow room for more than an hour, considering a 10-page report staffers had prepared on various legal points.

With Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman unwilling to budge on incomplete voter registrations, several counties across the state have come up with partial resolutions on their own. The ever-evolving "check box" drama has to do with the state's new voter registration form. Applicants without a state ID or a driver's license must indicate as much by checking a box and then giving the last four digits of their social security numbers. But at least 6,700 new would-be voters--and as many as 10,000 by one estimate — neglected to check the box. Several thousand of these individuals have since cured their applications, but many more remain barred from voter rolls.

The New York Times reports that tens of thousands of eligible voters have been illegally removed from the rolls in Colorado and five other swing states. And what does Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman have to say? Nothing. Oh wait! Nothing to say, that is, until the story comes out.

Colorado's confusing voter registration form has prompted county clerks to reject at least 4,800 new voter applications. And while election officials say there's still time for the applicants to get onto voter rolls, watchdog groups warn of unintended disenfranchisement.

An administrative law judge has thrown out charges that Amendment 46 petition circulators misled people into signing on to the anti-affirmative action measure. Amendment 46 seeks to end preferential treatment for women and minorities in public employment, education and contracting. The controversially named Colorado Civil Rights Initiative is part of a five-state effort launched by California businessman Ward Connerly to end affirmative action.

Employee conflicts of interest are only one of eight serious failures outlined in audit report.The Colorado State Auditor issued a blistering report on the...

Secretary of State Mike Coffman announced in his departmental newsletter today that counties will be able to use their electronic voting equipment for this...

The first of any 12-step program is to admit the problem, and the Secretary of State's staff took that step Thursday, acknowledging their campaign...