Marilyn Marks:
"Citizen Center has asked Governor Hickenlooper to veto HB-1036, the tortured merger successor to SB-155 (CORA and elections).
The letter transmitted to the Governor is linked here, and attached as well. Citizen Center also supports the veto request made by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in their poignant letter to Governor Hickenlooper. Colorado Voter Group also filed a request for a veto. We anticipate that other non-profit groups and concerned citizens will file similar requests.
The flawed legislative process resulted in a high-impact bill that by design of the sponsors (Heath/White/Court/Murray) allowed almost no debate, and ignored the expert input of the non-partisan Lawyers Committee Task Force on Elections.
It resulted in anti-transparency election process legislation that:
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- degrades Colorado’s already substandard election transparency
- institutionalizes voter intimidation
- strips ordinary citizens of their rights to verify elections, while creating a special insider status for partisan and special interests
- undermines voters’ constitutional rights to a secret ballot
- was passed in an illegitimate nonpublic process that intentionally obstructed the expression of citizens’ objections.
We have confidence that Governor Hickenlooper will undertake a serious review of the negative impacts of the bill on Colorado’s elections. We trust that he will conclude that this legislation is contrary to transparency principles of good government and use the power of his veto to send a message about the need for transparent and verifiable elections.
We encourage you to join Citizen Center and others in requesting this veto on this matter that affects every Colorado voter. You may fax your request to Governor Hickenlooper at (303) 866-2003.
Marilyn Marks
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