Colorado: Gessler hires lawyer with ties to former firm to force Hickenlooper on recall elections | Denver Post

Republican Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler has hired an attorney with ties to his old law firm to file a bold court order against Gov. John Hickenlooper in an effort to force the governor to set election dates in the recalls of two Democratic state lawmakers. In a writ of mandamus, filed in Denver District Court over the weekend by attorney Steven Klenda, Gessler asks for an “expedited/emergency hearing” because Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has “refused to perform his constitutional duty to set a date for an election to recall” of Senate President John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and Sen. Angela Giron, D-Pueblo. Colorado’s constitution says that an election date must come 60 days after the secretary of state’s office certifies recall petitions — which came on July 5. But Hickenlooper’s office is holding off until a Wednesday court hearing where a District Court judge will decide on a preliminary injuction that seeks to order Hickenlooper not be required to set an election date until the judicial process in the recall battle has ended.

Colorado: Secretary of State Scott Gessler has little time to make election law work | Denver Post

The work of Democrats in the legislature and Republicans collecting signatures in Colorado Springs and Pueblo has put a figurative ticking clock on the desk of Secretary of State Scott Gessler, the state’s chief election official. Nobody, however, is calling the tick-tock a time bomb just yet. Here’s the dilemma: Democrats passed House Bill 1303 in May, which requires that a ballot is mailed to every registered voter in each election, even the ones who haven’t voted in awhile. The law also allows residents to register all the way to Election Day. The law took effect July 1, and most assumed it would first apply to the primaries and the general election in 2014. Recall elections against state Senate President John Morse in El Paso County and Sen. Angela Giron in Pueblo mean Gessler’s staff has weeks, not months, to figure out how to make the system work without chaos for county clerks and fraud in the elections’ outcomes, a concern Gessler and his staff voiced before the bill was passed. Voters have had the option of choosing mail ballots for years — and most voters choose it — but now everyone will get a mail ballot, or choose to show up in-person at vote centers, if they wish.

Colorado: Recall Election Over Gun Laws Unprecedented | The Inquisitr

A Colorado recall election has been called against the state’s Democratic Colorado Senate President, John Morse. This effort could result in an unprecedented situation if Morse is successfully removed from office. More than that though, the recall election could become ground zero for an ongoing debate across the nation regarding gun control. The push to recall the Colorado Democrat comes from ire following new restrictions passed and recently enacted in the Southwestern state. According to LA Times, this includes a high-capacity magazine ban, universal background checks within the state, and an increase in gun fees.

Colorado: Lawmaker who supported gun control to face recall election | Fox News

The Colorado secretary of state’s office on Tuesday declared that organizers behind a recall petition against a Colorado lawmaker who supported gun control had enough valid signatures to set up the first potential recall of a state lawmaker in Colorado history. The secretary of state said opponents of Senate President John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, gathered more than 10,000 valid signatures. They only needed 7,178 valid signatures, equaling 25 percent of all the votes cast in the previous state Senate election. The recall election would likely in occur in September, though legal challenges could drag the process into October. Lawyers for Morse are challenging the recall effort. They argued that the petition fails to use language defined in the Colorado constitution that “expressly include a demand for the election of a successor to the recalled official,” The Denver Post reported.

Colorado: In Senate President recall, questions swirl with signature verification | The Denver Post

Senate President John Morse remains adamant he will charge forward into what could be the first recall election of a state lawmaker in Colorado history, though organizers in support of the Colorado Springs lawmaker are weighing all their options — including the possibility of Morse stepping down — before any election date is set. “Decisions are happening nonstop in a recall,” said Kjersten Forseth, a consultant to A Whole Lot of People for John Morse, who notes that resignation is an option, though it’s not a focus at this point. “As a team, we’re always re-evaluating where we are on a daily basis. It’s not something you can map out like in a normal campaign.” Organizers vying to oust Morse because of his leadership in the passage of tougher gun-control laws submitted 16,199 signatures to the secretary of state’s office last week, and of that total, 7,178 are needed to spark a recall election. Verification of those signatures could come as early as this week, and Morse backers note that they plan to contest every signature submitted if enough are verified to move forward with a recall election.