La Plata County Clerk Tiffany Lee Parker, a Republican, was one of the lead witnesses in favor of the bill at its first hearing before a House panel.<\/p>\n
Parker said the reforms will make elections less confusing for voters and less costly for county budgets.<\/p>\n
People who want to vote in person would be able to go to a centralized vote center, but their regular precinct polling place would not be open.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bipartisan team that worked on this legislation worked together to come up with a method for voters who prefer to vote by mail and those who prefer to vote in person,\u201d said Parker, vice president of the Colorado County Clerks Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough this issue has now become very partisan, we as elected officials need to remember who we\u2019re working for, and that is the people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But the clerks appear to be the only Republican officials supporting House Bill 1303, which is sponsored by Democrats.<\/p>\n
A long-simmering feud between Secretary of State Scott Gessler \u2014 a Republican \u2013 and county clerks of both parties bubbled into full view during the hearing.<\/p>\n
Parker and other leaders of the Colorado County Clerks Association generated the bill, and they didn\u2019t consult Gessler, the state\u2019s top elections official.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it hard to believe this is a bipartisan bill when every single person in my office was excluded,\u201d along with Republicans in the Legislature, Gessler said.<\/p>\n
The secretary of state has sued several county clerks over different election issues. He lost in court when he sued Denver and Pueblo counties to prevent them from sending mail ballots to voters on the inactive list.<\/p>\n
HB 1303 takes direct aim at Gessler\u2019s policy on inactive voters \u2013 people who did not vote in the previous election. The bill would do away with the status and make sure every registered voter gets a ballot unless the county clerk knows the person has moved away.<\/p>\n
Gessler testified that the bill would risk voter fraud and would be difficult to put into practice. He also took issue with an analysis by the Legislature\u2019s nonpartisan staff that predicted the changes would save $5 million to $15 million for counties statewide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t read it closely. I\u2019ve had to limit my reading to nonfiction lately,\u201d Gessler said.<\/p>\n
Voters would have more time to register to vote by mail or online under the bill, and they could register in person on Election Day.<\/p>\n
Gessler said relaxing registration deadlines will favor Democrats. Many political operatives share that opinion, although the evidence for it is scant.<\/p>\n
Dozens of citizens responded to Gessler\u2019s call on talk radio and social media to oppose the bill. Testimony \u2013 mostly against the bill \u2013 stretched past 9 p.m. as snow from a spring storm piled up outside.<\/p>\n
The House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee passed the bill 7-4, on a party-line vote.<\/p>\n