A Denver District Court judge on Thursday ruled that the office of Secretary of State Scott Gessler went overboard when establishing rules for the first-ever recall elections of state legislators. “I do not think any of the matters that we’re about to deal with were enacted or adopted by the secretary of state’s office in bad faith,” Judge Robert McGahey said. “But I think some of them were wrong.” Two Democrats — Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs and Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo — face ouster over their support for gun-control legislation during the 2013 session. Their elections are Sept. 10.
Gessler’s office released a statement saying he had worked closely with clerks in El Paso and Pueblo counties to draft the guidelines and had hosted a public hearing to solicit comments from voters.
He blasted Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper — whom he is considering challenging in 2014 — and the Democratic-controlled legislature for passing a “horrible, confusing election law” this year. “Despite this office’s best efforts to protect the elections, today a judge only compounded the problems,” Gessler said in the statement.
McGahey ruled that the yellow voter cards that Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert Ortiz has been mailing to voters — and which Gessler’s office had disallowed — are a proper form of voter identification.
Full Article: Judge tosses some of Scott Gessler’s rules for recall election – The Denver Post.