Bill to overhaul voter-registration rules runs into oppositi
Draft bill to overhaul voter registration runs into opposition, uncertainty
By Jessica Fender
The Denver Post
Posted: 04/07/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
The sponsor of a controversial, late-session plan to overhaul voter registration rules said Tuesday that he's still considering whether to introduce a bill at all, and county clerks voiced their opposition to the plan.
A draft of the bill would allow Coloradans to register to vote up to Election Day, allow third parties to deliver completed ballots and require mail ballots be sent to voters, both active and inactive, by 2012. This year, citizens could register and vote on the same day up until the Friday before Election Day.
Exactly where the idea for same-day voter registration came from and how much input clerks had is unclear.
House Speaker Terrance Carroll, the bill's sponsor should it be introduced, took issue with what he called the hyperbole and partisanship that has greeted the proposal in recent days as Republicans raise the specter of mass voter fraud. He said the bill as drafted is not intended to favor one party over another.
"What's wrong with more people voting?" Carroll asked. "This has turned into some sort of a partisan slugfest. . . . This has turned into hyper-partisan hysteria."
Carroll and Secretary of State Bernie Buescher said much of the legislation came from a bipartisan association of county clerks and recorders' suggestions as a way to reduce the cost of elections. The governor's office also has played a role, Buescher said.
But a Tuesday e-mail from the head of the clerks association, Democrat and Adams County Clerk Karen Long, voices their displeasure with the bill.
In it, she says clerks were misled and told that both the minority and majority leadership supported election reform, and notes that clerks were not involved in the drafting process.
"You should know that (clerk) representation has not been at the drafting table on this bill. We saw the first draft on Wednesday and received a revised version on Thursday," Long wrote. "This DOES NOT make it a 'Clerk's bill.' "
She did not return multiple calls for comment.
Long attended a formal meeting about the legislation March 2; and in February, she and another clerk met informally with the head of the secretary of state's election division, according to a spokesman.
Buescher, already under attack from his Republican election opponent, Scott Gessler, for his part in drafting the bill, said the draft itself is the start of the discussion and not the end of it.
And while Buescher believes there is time to fully vet the proposal this year, he said it does not need to be rushed.
"There are tough issues here that need to be discussed thoughtfully, carefully," he said. "There are some parts of this discussion that are pretty simple and could be done this year. Some parts maybe ought to wait for 2011 (or) 2012."
Advocates say the draft legislation would promote voting among typically disenfranchised Coloradans by making it more convenient to register and cast a ballot.
Clerks have voiced concerns about implementing any changes ahead of this year's election and worried in some instances about potential voter fraud should they be given less time to vet registrations.
Capitol Republicans have cast the legislation as an attempt by Democrats to skew elections in their favor, and one that could endanger the integrity of elections.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14833731
