Republican Jon Caldara changed his voter registration Saturday morning from Boulder to El Paso County, saying a flawed election law Democrats passed earlier this year allows him to claim residency in another jurisdiction. But Caldara didn’t mark a ballot in the recall of Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs, a Democrat who faces ouster for pushing through stricter gun laws in the 2013 session. Caldara is president of the Independence Institute, a think tank that fought the gun legislation and would like to see Morse lose his seat. Critics of Caldara’s plan claimed he could be charged with vote fraud, but he said that’s not why he left his ballot blank when he submitted it. “The point was not to be that last vote for Morse — as delicious as that might be — the purpose is to show how easy it is under the new law to move voters from district to district,” he said. Caldara originally marked his ballot “VOID,” which resulted in the elections machine not taking it, so he received another ballot, which had to be specially entered into the voting machine because it was not filled out.
Caldara said he is renting a room from a friend on Broman Court in Morse’s Senate district and has a week-to-week lease. The address is registered to former state Rep. Mark Barker, a Republican who lost his House race in 2012. Caldara said he considers his new address his permanent, legal residence.
… When Caldara announced his registration plan earlier this week, critics pointed to an Aug. 1 memo from Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s office to El Paso County Clerk Wayne Williams that spells out the statutes and rules that prevent out-of-district voting. The memo noted voter fraud is a felony. “It’s vote fraud — even Republicans agree,” said Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, a sponsor of the new law.
Williams said Saturday he sought clarification for the recall because of the new law. “I certainly heard concerns from folks that busloads from Denver were coming down to vote,” Williams
Full Article: New El Paso County resident Jon Caldara turns in blank recall ballot – The Denver Post.