June 22, 2012 08:53 PM UTC

The Continuing Plight of the "Inactive Voter"

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• by: Colorado Pols

Dominic Dezzutti writes at CBS4 on new rules proposed by Secretary of State Scott Gessler:

At issue is Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s new proposed rule that would mandate all counties to not send mail-in ballots to any “inactive” voters. Inactive voters are defined are voters who did not vote in the last general election in 2010 and in any subsequent election.

Denver County Clerk and Recorder Debra Johnson has been openly critical of the proposed rule, saying that the rule “would create more hurdles for voters” and went so far as to call the move “voter suppression”. Johnson eventually retracted the voter suppression line from her comments on her website, but she remains against the idea…

This may all seem like seriously inside political baseball until you remember that in 2008, then candidate Barack Obama’s campaign led a record breaking voter registration effort that registered a great deal of Democratic and Independent voters.

So, if any of those new Democratic and Independent voters, many of whom voted for Obama in 2008, didn’t vote in 2010 and 2011, then they won’t be sent a mail-in ballot.

This became a major issue last fall when Gessler unsuccessfully attempted to stop delivery of mail ballots to “inactive–failed to vote” voters in Denver and Pueblo counties. Ultimately, a number of counties in addition to these two did send ballots to their inactive voters, or in the case of Mesa County at least to inactive deployed servicemen voters. Politically, the situation turned into a major embarrassment and defeat for Gessler, with much national news coverage.

Gessler then opposed legislation in this year’s session to resolve the status of “inactive voters” in a way that does not unfairly penalize voters who didn’t participate in the 2010 election. The underlying fact to all of this is that the “inactive” voters who would have received mail ballots had that bill become law are 37% Democrats, and only 22.5% Republicans.

That’s why Democrats want them to get ballots. That’s why Scott Gessler does not. There is no amount of rhetoric that can erase partisan bottom line. You’d be a fool to deny it.

The difference is this: the Secretary of State shouldn’t be trying to make it harder to vote. Certainly not beyond what the law he’s interpreting allows. There’s a very good reason.

If Scott Gessler’s policy is adopted and President Obama loses in Colorado by just a few votes, the legality of this rule and the potential partisan nature of its creation will be under an enormous national microscope.

The case begun last fall, Gessler v. Denver, isn’t scheduled for another hearing until after the first of the year according to the Denver paper’s coverage of the fireworks between the parties this week. So once again, this is a case of the Secretary acting against the only court guidance given so far, which was that counties can send these ballots.

It’s certain that more counties will hold precinct polling place elections this year, and that could mitigate problems with some “inactive” voters and mail ballots. But there’s also concern about permanent vote-by-mail voters who have gone inactive. There are complexities on both sides–the question is whether it will be handled in a way that facilitates voters, or impedes them.

Lest Colorado’s “inactive” voter become 2012’s “hanging chad.”