County clerk to comply with Colo. Sec. of State order barring soldiers from voting

[kpete]

Source: Washington Independent

County clerk to comply with Colo. Sec. of State order barring soldiers from voting

By John Tomasic | 10.03.11 | 8:50 am | More from The Colorado Independent

Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz will comply with Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s order not to send ballots to soldiers out of state who are legally registered Pueblo County voters but who failed to cast ballots in 2010. The news came Friday afternoon in a carefully worded release that came after hours of deliberation.

“Pueblo County will honor Secretary Gessler’s order but this is not over,” Ortiz is quoted to say. “Pueblo County is currently weighing legal options, including taking the issue to court. The Secretary of State effectively has denied 64 active military personnel the opportunity to vote.”

Gessler unveiled a new interpretation of state election law last week, when he filed a lawsuit to stop Denver County from mailing ballots to “inactive” voters as it had done for the last five years. An inactive voter in Colorado is a voter who is legally registered but who has failed to cast a vote in the previous general election– in this case the election of 2010.

Pueblo County, like Denver, has routinely mailed ballots to all registered voters. Ortiz was committed to do the same this year and pushed back against Gessler this week. He said counsel had advised that Gessler’s interpretation of election law would force Pueblo– and all the counties of Colorado by extension– to violate the federal Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act, which requires clerks to mail ballots to all eligible voters in the military.

Read more: http://washingtonindependent.com/112864/county-clerk-to-comply-with-colo-sec-of-state-order-barring-soldiers-from-voting

[tblue]

1. I hope Eric Holder is aware of this.

What a travesty!!!! While they're serving their country????!!! WTF???!!!

[glinda]

7. Where are the Dem officials in raising hell on any of these new laws?

[existentialist]

2. This will not stand long.

There the supremacy cluase of the Constitution.

The Colorado Secretary of State is a narrow minded idiot.

[targetpractice]

3. What is an "inactive" voter?

If I'm registered... It shouldn't matter how or whether I vote.

[midnight]

4. I agree....

[SharonAnn]

6. Apparently, if you miss one election in Colorado, they consider you "inactive".

That's outrageous!

I can understand that if a person has not voted in several elections, they may be moved to "inactive" status but missing one election? For Pete's sake, fewer than 50% of the eligible people in the U.S. vote in the first place!

[EFerrari]

8. A likely Democratic voter

Soldiers are a favorite target of vote caging, and this is a version of vote caging. Someone needs to jump all over these people.

[florida08]

5. the only inactive voter is dead one

otherwise they are deliberately disenfranchising them..which a lawsuit would be inevitable

[buckrogers1965]

9. If you have a state ID

you should be permanently registered to vote where the address on your ID says you live.

Registration shouldn't be a separate process, unless someone doesn't want a state id, but still wishes to vote.

[yurbud]

10. Why aren't laws like this investigated by the Feds IMMEDIATELY?