Democrats moved forward Friday with a measure they say will boost voter turnout in recall elections, despite strong opposition from Republicans assailing it as unconstitutional. The legislation looks to harmonize language in state statute with Colorado’s constitution in regard to the recall election process. Under the constitution, a candidate has up to 15 days before Election Day to submit signatures so that the candidate’s name can appear on the recall ballot.
The proposal, heard in a lengthy hearing Friday before the Senate State Affairs committee, specifies that a person would now only be able to petition onto a recall ballot 15 days before ballots are made available to voters, which is defined as the first day of voting. Republicans said it’s unconstitutional to define Election Day.
This comes after clerks were unable to print and mail ballots to voters in the recalls in September of former Sens. John Morse of Colorado Springs and Angela Giron of Pueblo as individuals looked to petition onto the ballot two weeks before the election.
Full Article: Colorado Senate panel moves forward on recall bill – The Denver Post.