"It was always our intent to encourage those voters to vote," Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall said Friday.
Scott Gessler in The Newsballot initiatives,
campaign finance,
conflict of interest,
dunk tank,
election,
expanding government,
fear mongering,
glitches,
inactive voters,
lawsuit,
minority voters,
moonlighting,
partisan,
reimbursement,
self-payment,
special interest influence,
theft,
vote suppression
Reader: Scott Gessler's partisan actions disqualify him from officeJanuary 24, 2013 - Westword As a citizen, voter and taxpayer, I was offended by Secretary of State Scott Gessler's implication that being concerned about making a living necessarily makes you a "conservative." Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: conflict of interest, partisan, vote suppression Colorado judge denies Scott Gessler on "inactive voters" lawsuitJanuary 21, 2013 - Denver Post A Colorado state district court judge on Monday ruled that state law allows county clerks the authority to send ballots to "inactive failed to vote" voters in mail-in-only elections...Scott Gessler sued Denver County Clerk and Recorder Debra Johnson in 2011 for sending mail ballots to such so-called "inactive" voters. District Court Judge Edward D. Bronfin ruled against Gessler — an election-law attorney — saying that Johnson's interpretation of the law is correct Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: election, inactive voters, lawsuit, vote suppression Scott Gessler is always right...right?January 10, 2013 - Westword At 9:36 a.m. on August 28, Minerva Padron, an administrative assistant to Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, answered a call to the office's election number. On the other end of the line was an agitated male who said he wanted to talk to someone about letters that Gessler had sent to nearly 4,000 registered voters whom he suspected might not be American citizens, urging the suspected immigrants to offer proof that they were legal citizens — or otherwise remove themselves from the voter rolls. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: conflict of interest, fear mongering, inactive voters, partisan, self-payment, theft, vote suppression Immigration advocate, legal citizen gets Scott Gessler's non-citizen letterOctober 26, 2012 - Westword In the final weeks of the campaign, as we reported earlier today, Secretary of State Scott Gessler has continued his controversial anti-fraud campaign by tracking down individuals he believes are illegally registered to vote, because they are immigrants. Gessler sent them letters to 300 people asking them to verify their citizenship -- and yesterday, we reached one legal citizen who got the letter and is not happy about it, in part because he himself has done advocacy work around voter participation. Alan Kaplan, 35, has been a citizen since 2001. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: fear mongering, glitches, vote suppression Michael Hancock: Scott Gessler's actions similar to nationwide voter-suppression effortsOctober 22, 2012 - Westword Even though Mayor Michael Hancock says he likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, he believes Secretary of State Scott Gessler's actions echo a concerted nationwide effort to suppress votes. The mayor weighed in on this topic last week, and while he declined to directly slam Gessler, he still came down hard on the controversial chief election officer, who has faced a steady stream of opposition in the final days before this year's election. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: conflict of interest, fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Raising money, Honey Badger styleOctober 19, 2012 - Denver Post In a fundraising letter sent by Coloradans for Gessler this week, the Republican secretary of state asks for donations to combat the “liberal left.” “If proactively cleaning up our state’s voting processes equates to being fearless and driven, then the Honey Badger nickname is one I can live with,” Gessler says in the letter. “Liberal politicians are willing to turn a blind eye toward voter fraud — and that’s something I will not accept.” Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: conflict of interest, minority voters, vote suppression Scott Gessler should be investigated for misuse of public funds, says Colorado Ethics WatchOctober 16, 2012 - Westword Scott Gessler is not only making it harder for people to vote, he's using public funds to help support the Republican Party. At least that's the charge of Colorado Ethics Watch, an advocacy group that is accusing the Secretary of State of spending public dollars to fund trips to political events. With a call for a criminal investigation, these allegations may be the most controversial Gessler has faced in the months before the election. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: conflict of interest, fear mongering, vote suppression Secretary of State Scott Gessler: Left doesn't care about voter fraudOctober 05, 2012 - Denver Post Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler told a conservative audience Thursday that his critics really don't care about voter fraud and are "willing to lie" and "play the racism card." Gessler, a Republican, made his comments during a panel discussion Thursday titled, "Stealing Elections: What the Left Doesn't Want You to Know About Voter Fraud," held at a gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Denver. The secretary of state appeared on the voter fraud panel along with representatives of several conservative organizations, including True the Vote, a highly controversial group that styles itself as an elections integrity organization but which critics say uses voter intimidation tactics. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: conflict of interest, fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Scott Gessler to share conservative voter-fraud panel with controversial True the Vote groupOctober 02, 2012 - Westword Secretary of State Scott Gessler likes to say that it should be easy to vote and tough to cheat, but his critics argue that he is a lot more focused on the latter -- especially when it comes to voters who aren't Republican. While Gessler has tried to disprove those accusations, his appearance this week at a conservative voter-fraud panel is not doing much to appease critics. Keywords: conflict of interest, minority voters, special interest influence, vote suppression Scott Gessler office's latest glitch: 800 voters who recently registered may not beSeptember 27, 2012 - Westword Critics of Secretary of State Scott Gessler argue that he spends more time intimidating and suppressing voters than he does registering them. Though Gessler has always denied those claims, he admitted yesterday that nearly 800 voters who legally registered may not have been put into the system due to a glitch -- and now they have to re-register. Trouble is, Gessler's office has no way of figuring out who they are. While this latest problem at the Secretary of State's office has nothing to do with his controversial campaign to weed out illegal voters, it's certainly bad timing for Gessler, who faces continued criticism that he is failing to make voter registration his top priority. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: glitches, vote suppression Scott Gessler registration drive errors cause confusion, more voter suppression claimsSeptember 20, 2012 - Westword This is not quite how Scott Gessler's plan was supposed to go. When Colorado's Secretary of State announced an unprecedented voter registration initiative last month, he told reporters that the effort wasn't a direct response to criticisms of voter suppression, though he said it would hopefully disprove accusations that he is intimidating voters. But now, some county clerks and voters are saying errors in mailers sent out through the registration campaign are causing more harm than good. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: glitches, minority voters, vote suppression Denver clerk sues Gessler over mailing ballots to inactive votersSeptember 19, 2012 - Denver Post Denver Clerk and Recorder Debra Johnson on Wednesday sued Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, challenging a rule from his office that would block ballots from being mailed to inactive voters in city and school board elections. "The election rules adopted in August by the Colorado secretary of state prohibiting the mailing of ballots to inactive-failed-to-vote voters in nonpartisan and coordinated elections infringes on Denver's status as a home rule city and county," Johnson said in a statement. "We believe that the secretary of state is overstepping his authority by trying to control who gets ballots in local municipal elections. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: inactive voters, lawsuit, vote suppression Noncitizen voters ID'd fraction of those first alleged by GesslerSeptember 16, 2012 - Denver Post More than a year ago, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler said there could be in excess of 11,000 noncitizens registered to vote in Colorado and more than 4,000 of those who had cast ballots, and he has called noncitizen voter registration a "gaping hole" in the system. But earlier this month, Gessler, a Republican, announced that his office had found only 141 people who were noncitizens registered to vote out of 1,416 names run through a federal database, and of those 141, only 35 who had cast ballots. That number represents 0.001 percent of Colorado's 3.5 million registered voters. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Gessler identifies 35 non-citizens who voted, but holds off on rule-makingSeptember 08, 2012 - Denver Post Secretary of State Scott Gessler said Friday his office had found 35 noncitizens who have voted in Colorado elections, but in the face of criticism over how his office has tried to identify them, Gessler said he would not move forward with proposed regulations to deal with suspected noncitizen voters until after the election. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: election, fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression PERRY: I VOTE FOR CHANGING GESSLER FROM ELECTIONS CHIEF BACK TO BEING PARTISAN GOP LAWYERSeptember 06, 2012 - Aurora Sentinel And the non-Christian, misguided, freedom-hating, government-bashing, communistic, left-leaning Colorado residents who don’t believe in the fundamental goodness of America are supposed to trust this Midwest carpet-bagging lawyer to be honest and fair in administrating election law? In a swing state with so much at stake in November, we’re supposed to believe that Gessler won’t morph into the notorious Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris on Election Day? Read full article (Aurora Sentinel website)Keywords: conflict of interest, fear mongering, minority voters, special interest influence, vote suppression Database: 88% of questioned people on voter rolls are U.S. citizensAugust 30, 2012 - Denver Post About 88 percent of the approximately 1,400 suspected noncitizens run through a federal database by the Colorado secretary of state's office were determined to be U.S. citizens — and are eligible to vote. The Department of Homeland Security is continuing to review the remaining approximately 168 people to determine whether any of them also are citizens, said Michael Hagihara, voter registration manager for the secretary of state's office. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: conflict of interest, election, fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression U.S. citizens among those who got letters questioning right to voteAugust 29, 2012 - Denver Post The largest portion of the letters — 46 percent — went to unaffiliated voters, but 40 percent went to registered Democrats while only 12.5 percent went to Republicans. The remainder went to voters with other parties. The fact that more than three times as many Democrats got the letters as Republicans prompted those on the left to accuse Gessler, a Republican, of partisan motives. A controversial secretary of state, Gessler has clashed with Democrats and liberal groups many times since taking office in 2011. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: conflict of interest, fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Gessler asks 4,000 voters to prove they can legally voteAugust 16, 2012 - KDVR-TV Gessler, with his continued focus on eliminating voter fraud, has become a top target of Colorado Democrats, who believe the Republican is engaging in a less than subtle effort to reduce the number of minorities who actually vote in an effort to help GOP candidates. Read full article (KDVR-TV website)Keywords: election, fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Gessler’s proposed changes to election rules draw heated objectionsJuly 26, 2012 - Colorado Independent 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. Read full article (Colorado Independent website)Keywords: campaign finance, conflict of interest, expanding government, fear mongering, inactive voters, vote suppression House Dems To Gessler: You Don't Make The LawJuly 23, 2012 - Colorado Pols To briefly recap, a state law requiring that mail ballots be delivered to all registered voters with a valid address expired after the 2010 election cycle. Gessler lost in court last fall attempting to stop Denver and Pueblo counties from sending these ballots, after which several other Colorado counties joined them. This year, Gessler helped kill legislation that would have clarified the status of inactive voters statewide and ensured they got mail ballots--because the "uniformity" Gessler wanted was on the side of fewer ballots being delivered. Read full article (Colorado Pols website)Keywords: fear mongering, inactive voters, minority voters, vote suppression Homeland Security Says Gessler May Check Voter CitizenshipJuly 17, 2012 - Denver Post The Department of Homeland Security agreed Monday to let Colorado and other states access a DHS database to verify the citizenship of some registered voters — news that was hailed as a win for Secretary of State Scott Gessler and other Republican election officials but had their critics on high alert. Keywords: fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Gessler's 29 Maybe-Illegal Voters: Don't Take The BaitJuly 14, 2012 - Colorado Pols Which points back to yesterday's Denver paper, where reporter Sara Burnett covers a "spot check" done by Secretary of State Scott Gessler's office into the possibility of noncitizens being registered to vote. In his latest attempt to uncover what he insists in the absence of much evidence is a major problem, Gessler's office checked immigration detainees in Colorado with voter rolls, and found 85 persons who appear both in that list and a list of registered voters. Of that 85, some 29 are marked as "active" voters, meaning they appear to have voted since 2010. Read full article (Colorado Pols website)Keywords: expanding government, fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Gessler Searching for Illegal VotesJuly 13, 2012 - Denver Post Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler is investigating 85 people who may have been illegally registered to vote. A spokesman for Gessler says jail records are being checked for people being detained as illegal immigrants to see if they match names in the state's voter database Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Suthers Backs Gessler, asks Homeland Security to Screen VotersJuly 10, 2012 - Denver Post Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler is intensifying his efforts to root out and remove any noncitizens from the state's voter rolls before the November election — and this time, he has the backing of Attorney General John Suthers and top elections officials in 11 other states. Keywords: election, expanding government, vote suppression Scott Gessler: A 'Good Election' is when 'Republicans Win'June 26, 2012 - Huffington Post ColoradoPols.com unearthed a video of Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler talking about election integrity that may raise come eyebrows. 'So, obviously we have a big election coming up and everyone is -- properly so, I think -- very intensely involved, but there's always a lot of uptightness about it too, a lot of accusations being hurled about. So, let me talk a little bit about what we're looking at, at least from my perspective, in the election. I mean how do you know if you have a good election? Well, Republicans win, of course.' - Scott Gessler Read full article (Huffington Post website)Keywords: election, special interest influence, vote suppression Gessler Still Fighting With Denver Over BallotsJune 21, 2012 - Denver Post Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler is still fighting with Denver election officials over mail ballots to inactive voters. Late last week, Gessler's office proposed a new rule that says clerks may not mail ballots to inactive voters in an election held with another political entity, which could affect November's presidential election. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: inactive voters, vote suppression Denver Clerk, Secretary of State Gessler Spar Over Mailing BallotsJune 20, 2012 - Denver Post The secretary of state’s office said the rule proposed late last week clarifies that clerks may not mail ballots to inactive votersin a “coordinated” mail-ballot election, or a mail-ballot election held simultaneously with another political entity. It also states that inactive voters may not receive a mail ballotfor anyotherelection, with the exception of a primary, unless the voter submits an application for a mail ballot. Keywords: inactive voters, vote suppression Risk Of Non-Citizen Voters At Center Of Struggle In Some StatesJune 02, 2012 - WITN News And to those who might impute a political motive to Gessler to scrub the voter rolls in a state which swung from Republican in 2004 to Democratic in 2008, Gessler said, “I’ve got an obligation enforce the law and let the chips fall where they may.” Read full article (WITN News website)Keywords: vote suppression Gessler aide: Homeland Security 'stalling' on Colorado voter checksJune 01, 2012 - VivaColorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler's office accused the Department of Homeland Security today of using "stall tactics" to prevent Colorado from verifying the citizenship status of about 4,500 registered voters Read full article (VivaColorado website)Keywords: minority voters, vote suppression Wisconsin’s Walker echoes Colorado’s Gessler on voter fraudMay 21, 2012 - The Colorado Independent In the last two years, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler has made voter fraud prevention a top priority. His efforts have included working to stop county clerks from sending absentee ballots to inactive voters, lobbying for a controversial voter ID law and leading an unprecedented effort to determine whether noncitizens are voting in the state. Read full article (The Colorado Independent website)Keywords: fear mongering, vote suppression James O'Keefe: Not Helping Scott GesslerMay 16, 2012 - ColoradoPols As you know, we (and others) have repeatedly debunked this persistent claim that "5,000 noncitizens may have voted" in the 2010 elections in Colorado. The claim originates with Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who used this figure in congressional testimony, but it doesn't stand up to even casual scrutiny. As we noted and local media outlets realized last year, over thirty thousand Colorado residents became citizens during the period Gessler "analyzed," enough to easily account for the 5,000 "noncitizens" who "may" have voted in 2010. Read full article (ColoradoPols website)Keywords: fear mongering, vote suppression Why We're Suing Colorado SOS Scott GesslerApril 25, 2012 - Huffington Post Colorado's Secretary of State Scott Gessler has just put into effect a new set of political financing and disclosure rules that open up new opportunities to hide big money in politics from the public's view, throwing out the welcome mat to potential, political corruption in Colorado. Read full article (Huffington Post website)Keywords: campaign finance, lawsuit, vote suppression The right to vote: Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s betrayal of votersApril 14, 2012 - The Denver Post Republican Scott Gessler has made voting by mail a partisan issue. In doing so, he joins a nationwide Republican movement to suppress the vote, because lower turnouts favor them. He claims it is more cost-effective for county clerks to send two separate postcard notices to registered voters who didn’t vote in the last general election than to mail one ballot to them. Voters who sign up for permanent mail ballots expect to receive them, whether they voted last time or not, and that makes sense. Permanent means permanent. Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: vote suppression Editorial: Common sense on ballot issueApril 13, 2012 - The Denver Post Given the recent dust-up with Secretary of State Scott Gessler over mail ballots going to "inactive/failed to vote" voters, some might have thought the issue had been resolved. Last October, a judgedeclined Gessler's request for a preliminary injunctionto prevent Denver from sending ballots to those classified as "inactive/failed to vote." They are defined as those who failed to participate in the prior general election and did not respond to two postcards from the elections clerk. Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: inactive voters, vote suppression Guarding against the corrupting influence of moneyApril 08, 2012 - The Denver Post Ingenious efforts to thwart the people's right to know who is spending to influence elections have always kept a step ahead of disclosure laws. In light of the Colorado Supreme Court's recent "magic words" ruling, the disconnect is greater now than ever. And, it will only get worse if Secretary of State Scott Gessler's new campaign finance regulations, which among other things would effectively repeal the requirement that 527s disclose their spending, survive inevitable legal challenges. Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: campaign finance, special interest influence, vote suppression Watchdog groups sue Colorado secretary of state over campaign-finance lawsApril 07, 2012 - The Denver Post Two organizations sued Secretary of State Scott Gessler on Friday, saying he weakened Colorado's campaign-finance laws when heissued a rewrite of the state's rules earlier this yearand that he didn't have authority to do so. Keywords: campaign finance, lawsuit, special interest influence, vote suppression Colorado Democrats launch online petition drive against Secretary of State GesslerMarch 31, 2012 - The Denver Post
Days after calling for the removal of Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler, Colorado Democrats on Friday launched an online petition drive to bring attention to what party officials say is partisanship emanating from his office. "Many of the problems he has created are pretty technical. ... We will be able to gauge what further actions might be worth pursuing" based on the response to the petition, Colorado Democratic Party spokesman Matt Inzeo said in a statement. Keywords: conflict of interest, election, fear mongering, vote suppression Colorado Democrats want Secretary of State Scott Gessler removed from officeMarch 29, 2012 - The Denver Post Colorado Democrats unleashed some of their strongest criticism yet of Secretary of State Scott Gessler Wednesday, saying he should be removed from office afterhe opposed an election-related bill that was later killed by fellow Republicans. Keywords: campaign finance, conflict of interest, election, vote suppression Secretary of State Gessler asks Homeland Security to ID noncitizens on Colorado voter rollsMarch 17, 2012 - The Denver Post Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler has asked the Department of Homeland Security to provide his office with the citizenship status of about 4,500 registered voters — his latest tactic in an ongoing effort to remove noncitizens from the state's voter rolls. Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression Colorado county clerks baffled by Gessler ‘non-citizen voter registration’ claimsMarch 08, 2012 - The Colorado Independent “I really have no idea what he is talking about,” Republican Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Sheila Reiner told the Colorado Independent. Reiner was referring to allegations made again recently by Secretary of State Scott Gessler that non-citizens are registered to vote in the state. Read full article (The Colorado Independent website)Keywords: fear mongering, vote suppression Scott Gessler spokesmen reject voter suppression accusations against himMarch 08, 2012 - Westword "This time, however, Americans won't be faced with night sticks. They'll instead be faced with new laws written by the Republican legislature and the Secretary of State," Palacio said at a Monday press conference. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: fear mongering, vote suppression Our Secretary of State as a Punch LineMarch 08, 2012 - The Huffington Post Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler has become a punch line. I witnessed this recently in a local restaurant. I heard "Scott Gessler" across the room, followed by peals of laughter. No joke. I follow the secretary of state closely because of his self-described attempts to "further the conservative agenda" and voter suppression efforts that match those of the national Republican Party. Read full article (The Huffington Post website)Keywords: ballot initiatives, campaign finance, minority voters, special interest influence, vote suppression Lawmakers consider eliminating ‘inactive voter’ statusFebruary 22, 2012 - Fox 31 Secretary of State Scott Gessler is currently facing litigation from several county clerks, including Denver’s for his directive that they mail ballots only to ‘active’ registered voters Read full article (Fox 31 website)Keywords: election, inactive voters, vote suppression Scott Gessler, in his own words...February 20, 2012 - The Colorado Statesman Secretary of State Scott Gessler is clearly no stranger to publicity. Even before being sworn into office in January of 2011, his name was familiar in political circles. The Democrats had Mark Grueskin as their top election law guru, Republicans in the state usually turned to their own cadre of leading experts, with Gessler at or near the top of their list. There were plenty of stories over the years which showcased Gessler’s ties to Republicans and the political organizations they formed to advance their causes. Read full article (The Colorado Statesman website)Keywords: campaign finance, conflict of interest, fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression In Colorado's Close Races, the Hispanic Vote is KeyFebruary 14, 2012 - The Huffington Post One of these obstacles was presented by Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who, citing concerns about voter fraud, created the category of "inactive voter," encompassing anyone who voted, for example, in 2008 but not 2010. The issue is currently being challenged in court and is considered an attempt at voter suppression, particularly of minority voters like Hispanics, explained Grace López Ramírez, state director of Mi Familia Vota. Read full article (The Huffington Post website)Keywords: vote suppression Scott Gessler targeted by activist over voting in Saguache county and beyondFebruary 13, 2012 - The Westword The woman behind Citizen Center, a nonprofit organization that focuses on elections issues and more, is pushing Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler's office to hold a hearing prompted by her complaint about alleged voting irregularities in Saguache County. And today, she plans to announce a broader lawsuit focusing on Gessler and officials in several other counties. Read full article (The Westword website)Keywords: election, vote suppression Voters file suit against Gessler, six clerks for ballot practicesFebruary 13, 2012 - The Denver Post A group of Colorado voters filed a federal lawsuit against Secretary of State Scott Gessler and six county clerks today, saying their election practices are unconstitutional because they allow some ballots to be traced back to the person who cast them. Keywords: vote suppression Colorado lawmakers won’t push ‘proof of citizenship’ bill this sessionJanuary 23, 2012 - The Colorado Independent Colorado lawmakers who last year introduced legislation to address claims that perhaps thousands of undocumented residents had voted in the state will not re-introduce the legislation this year. Secretary of State Scott Gessler reportedly waved off the lawmakers, saying he felt he could address the issue outside the halls of the capitol with means available to him through his office. Read full article (The Colorado Independent website)Keywords: minority voters, vote suppression Scott Gessler dubbed rock star by NPR, but he prefers being called Honey BadgerJanuary 18, 2012 - Westword Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler is a controversy magnet, with many progressive figures taking his name in vain. Example: a blistering October critique by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. But today, NPR, a news outfit frequently accused of liberal bias, sent the mega-conservative Gessler an audio love letter in which he's implicitly dubbed a rock star, as well as a honey badger. Hear it below. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: election, special interest influence, vote suppression CO's Scott Gessler a New Type of Secretary of StateJanuary 18, 2012 - Colorado Public Radio In the year since his election, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler has grabbed a lot of headlines. He’s part of an activist trend nationwide that’s transforming the office from an administrative role to something with a much higher profile. Colorado Public Radio’s Megan Verlee reports. Read full article (Colorado Public Radio website)Keywords: minority voters, moonlighting, vote suppression Election officers who block the voteJanuary 06, 2012 - Politico Secretary of State Scott Gessler of Colorado, for example, asserted before Congress that as many as 11,000 noncitizens could be registered to vote in Colorado. He drew that conclusion by comparing people who used noncitizen documentation to obtain a driver’s license to voter registration rolls. But the likely discrepancy, aside from clerical errors, is that those noncitizens became legal citizens after receiving their driver’s license. During the same time period, 32,000 people became legal citizens in Colorado. Read full article (Politico website)Keywords: vote suppression COLORADO'S WORST POLITICO, 2011: Secretary of State Scott GesslerJanuary 03, 2012 - ColoradoPols It's quite possible that this "award" could end up being permanently named for Gessler, who isn't likely to be much less of a disaster in 2012 than he was in 2011. Gessler has been WTF-awful since he was first elected in November 2010, using what has historically been a benign position to cause all sorts of unnecessary problems all across the state. Just how has Gessler erred? Let us count the ways: Read full article (ColoradoPols website)Keywords: ballot initiatives, campaign finance, conflict of interest, inactive voters, moonlighting, vote suppression Limiting people from politics hurts us allJanuary 01, 2012 - The Pueblo Chieftain Since his election last January, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler has been at the forefront of the battle on influencing the political landscape. In his short tenure, Gessler has proposed overreaching legislation to limit voting, made unsubstantiated claims of illegal voting, ordered county clerks not to send ballots to “inactive” eligible voters (even overseas military voters) and proposed rules that would allow unlimited special interest money to influence our elections. Read full article (The Pueblo Chieftain website)Keywords: minority voters, vote suppression Colorado Secretary of State Gessler embraces being targeted over his push for reformsDecember 24, 2011 - The Denver Post I'm probably going to be in court more than any previous secretary of state, Gessler said, according to several people in the room. Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: conflict of interest, inactive voters, moonlighting, vote suppression Brown: Scott Gessler, meet Natalie MeyerDecember 02, 2011 - The Denver Post Scott Gessler is also a Republican, but he really ought to talk to Natalie Meyer about how to run the secretary of state's office. "I think he got off to a very bad start," Meyer says Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: campaign finance, election, inactive voters, minority voters, vote suppression Media omission: Gessler promised to produce evidence of election “fraud,” but hasn’t delivered anyNovember 21, 2011 - Big Media Blog With no proof of election fraud here in Colorado, he may trot out evidence, Keywords: election, fear mongering, special interest influence, vote suppression Corrected Pueblo County inactive voter figures still highNovember 03, 2011 - The Colorado Independent Ortiz and other county clerks battled against Gessler’s new interpretation of state election law when he brought it out. Ortiz argued that Gessler’s order would force him to violate the federal Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act, which obligates county clerks to send ballots to all eligible voters in the military, active and inactive. Read full article (The Colorado Independent website)Keywords: election, vote suppression All-mail election nets record turnout for off-year contestNovember 03, 2011 - Aspen Daily News Taking into account “inactive” voters, those who did not cast ballots in the 2010 election and who Secretary of State Scott Gessler attempted to block from receiving mail ballots, the county turnout was 39 percent. Read full article (Aspen Daily News website)Keywords: election, vote suppression Turnout by Colorado voters listed as "inactive" rises after disputeNovember 02, 2011 - The Denver Post Those ballots were sent out after a months-long battle between Secretary of State Scott Gessler and Denver Clerk and Recorder Debra Johnson over whether to mail them. Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: inactive voters, minority voters, vote suppression Inactive voters playing major role in Pueblo County electionNovember 01, 2011 - The Colorado Independent Gessler’s order would have disproportionately affected minority voters. Gessler unveiled his new interpretation of state election law in September, just weeks before Election Day, telling clerks it was illegal for them to send ballots to inactive voters. Read full article (The Colorado Independent website)Keywords: inactive voters, minority voters, vote suppression After Unprecedented GOP Effort, New Voting Laws Could Reshape Electorate in 2012November 01, 2011 - TIME In September, Colorado's elected secretary of state, Republican Scott Gessler, sued the clerk of Democratic-leaning Denver County to stop mailing ballots to voters the state deems "inactive" for having failed to participate in the 2010 elections. Read full article (TIME website)Keywords: vote suppression Colorado Lawmakers Prepared to Address Voter Ballot Issues Raised by GesslerOctober 26, 2011 - Colorado Independent “The overall goal has to be to facilitate the right to vote. Voting is an American value that people cherish. Expanding the franchise is the goal,” said Rep. Crisanta Duran. Read full article (Colorado Independent website)Keywords: vote suppression Colorado probably only state where a registered voter isn’t guaranteed mail ballot after missing one electionOctober 21, 2011 - The Big Media Blog It seems crazy to me that in Colorado, you won’t necessarily get a ballot in the mail if you missed voting in just one election, and I haven’t seen much info reported locally on how other states deal with this issue. Read full article (The Big Media Blog website)Keywords: inactive voters, vote suppression Pueblo Clerk Ortiz Portrayed as National Voting Rights Hero on Rachel MaddowOctober 14, 2011 - Colorado Independent “Sometimes it comes down to one person, one official, doing what he or she thinks is the right thing, and doing it right now,” she said about Ortiz’s decision to mail ballots to American soldiers serving overseas. Read full article (Colorado Independent website)Keywords: vote suppression A Win for Voters is Gessler's Second LossOctober 10, 2011 - Huffington Post Secretary Gessler's position is that mail ballots should be sent only to voters who voted in the last election, or to those who contact the County Clerk in writing or show up in person at the election office to specifically tell the county that they would like to receive a mail ballot. This could have effectively prevented thousands of Denver residents who would otherwise vote from doing so -- in the last Denver mail-ballot election, 6,138 of the 55,023 voters who did not participate in the prior election voted when mail ballots were sent to them. Under Secretary Gessler's plan, all of them would have been out of luck. Secretary Gessler claims this step is necessary to prevent "fraud," but there is absolutely no factual or logical connection between skipping a single election and voter fraud. Read full article (Huffington Post website)Keywords: election, inactive voters, vote suppression Great Scott! Is it the Name?October 09, 2011 - Denver Post Think how much we could save on conducting elections if only two or three people in upscale precincts, and none at all in downscale venues likely to vote the wrong way, received ballots and had the papers to prove residency and citizenship if Gessler or his agents challenged them. Keywords: vote suppression Inactive Voters to Receive BallotsOctober 08, 2011 - Pueblo Chieftain Judge Allows Denver, Pueblo to send inactive ballots for November 1 election. Read full article (Pueblo Chieftain website)Keywords: vote suppression Court Showdown Looms as Gessler, Johnson, Ortiz Square Off on Inactive BallotsOctober 07, 2011 - Huffington Post "Gessler’s actions would violate the free speech and equal protection guaranteed in the First and Fourteenth Amendments." Read full article (Huffington Post website)Keywords: vote suppression Gessler Loses Round OneOctober 07, 2011 - Junction Daily Blog The judge was apparently unpersuaded by Gessler’s argument that e-mail “orders” from the Secretary of State somehow conform to the rigorous rule-making process defined by state law. Read full article (Junction Daily Blog website)Keywords: vote suppression Denver and Pueblo Will Send Ballots to Inactives But Not El Paso CountyOctober 07, 2011 - Colorado Springs Independent Gessler, you'll remember, has been trying to keep cities from sending mail ballots to inactive voters. He says it's against the law. Read full article (Colorado Springs Independent website)Keywords: vote suppression Crowd Gathering for Court Battle Over Inactive VotersOctober 07, 2011 - Pueblo Chieftain Ortiz sharpened the confrontation last week by challenging Gessler on the question of inactive military voters. Read full article (Pueblo Chieftain website)Keywords: vote suppression Judge Denies Injunction in Gessler's Ballot LawsuitOctober 07, 2011 - NoCo 5 Voter advocacy groups had argued inactive voters would be disenfranchised if Gessler prevailed because those voters are still eligible to cast ballots. Read full article (NoCo 5 website)Keywords: vote suppression Guessing at Gessler's MotivesOctober 07, 2011 - Denver Post Statewide, as of August 2011, there were 92,000 more inactive Democrats than Republicans. As Denver's record shows, if you nudge them, they might vote. That may explain why Republicans like Gessler would rather not risk jostling them out of hibernation. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: vote suppression Boulder County May Mail Ballots to Inactives After Court RulingOctober 07, 2011 - Longmont Times-Call
Read full article (Longmont Times-Call website) Keywords: vote suppression Pueblo Clerk Sends Ballots to Inactive VotersOctober 07, 2011 - KOAA-TV "It's a victory for Pueblo County voters," said Ortiz. "I give all credit to Denver County Clerk Debra Johnson for staying with this fight all the way through," he added. Read full article (KOAA-TV website)Keywords: vote suppression Denver Judge Rules All Voters May Receive BallotsOctober 07, 2011 - Steamboat Pilot Routt County Clerk & Recorder says she's leaning against sending ballots to inactive voters. Read full article (Steamboat Pilot website)Keywords: vote suppression Gessler Lawsuit Against Denver Goes to CourtOctober 07, 2011 - KWGN-TV Judge denies Secretary of State's request to block Denver from mailing ballots to inactive voters. Advocacy groups say the move would have disenfranchised minorities, low-income. Read full article (KWGN-TV website)Keywords: vote suppression Colorado Secretary of State Gessler Making a Name for HimselfOctober 06, 2011 - American Independent No word yet on whether he’s seeking higher office but there are certainly Republican candidates for president getting less press than Gessler. Read full article (American Independent website)Keywords: vote suppression Don't Get Out the Vote: Secretary of State Working Against Colorado VotersOctober 06, 2011 -
Read full article ( website) Keywords: vote suppression American Troops Have the Right to VoteOctober 05, 2011 - Votevets.org The idea that Scott Gessler would deliberately prevent our service members from exercising the very freedoms they fight for is offensive, un-American, and wrong. Sign our petition telling Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler that this is unacceptable. Read full article (Votevets.org website)Keywords: vote suppression Rachel Maddow Slams Gessler Over Ballot InitiativeOctober 05, 2011 - Washington Independent She showed a map comparing areas of Denver with the most inactive voters to a map showing areas of heavy Hispanic concentration, and guess what? They match. Read full article (Washington Independent website)Keywords: vote suppression Rep. Charlie Gonzalez wants Justice Department to probe military ballot controversySeptember 30, 2011 - My San Antonio A Texas congressman urged the Justice Department to investigate actions by the Colorado secretary of state that he says will deny active duty military personnel the right to vote. Read full article (My San Antonio website)Keywords: inactive voters, minority voters, vote suppression Gessler: No to mailing ballots to inactive votersSeptember 30, 2011 - The Pueblo Chieftain U.S. Reps. Robert Brady, D-Pa., and Charles Gonzales, D-Texas, weighed in on the issue this week, sending a letter to the Justice Department that charged Gessler with trying to suppress voting in Denver County and Colorado. "What Secretary Gessler suggests is likely to disenfranchise eligible voters and should be condemned therefore," they wrote, adding they wanted an investigation of Gessler's actions. Read full article (The Pueblo Chieftain website)Keywords: election, inactive voters, minority voters, vote suppression Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler threatens to sue Denver over ballot flap involving inactive votersSeptember 19, 2011 - The Denver Post Jenny Rose Flanagan, director of Colorado Common Cause, was critical of Gessler."I think he's picking the wrong fight," she said. "These voters are eligible to vote and when we give them ballots, they vote." Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: fear mongering, inactive voters, vote suppression Evidence of Illegal Voting From Gessler: Zip, Zilch, NadaJune 17, 2011 - Colorado Pols Folks, if this is what the Republican county clerks think, you can imagine how much credibility Gessler actually has on this issue. Somewhere between "none" and a strong suspicion of purposeful mendacity. We think the more that voters of all political persuasions understand about the flimsy case Gessler is basing these very serious allegations on, the worse this will look for Republicans in general: especially those who backed his related legislation this year. After all, nobody likes being terrorized without cause--or worse, with a very nasty ulterior motive. Read full article (Colorado Pols website)Keywords: fear mongering, minority voters, vote suppression |
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