October 12, 2009 05:08 PM UTC

Cleaning Up Gigi's Mess

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• by: Colorado Pols

It’s a big job that Mike Coffman more or less punted during his abbreviated tenure as Secretary of State, the Colorado Statesman reported this weekend:

Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher wants the opinions of election officials and the public on proposed rules that would make it easier for the state to certify voting equipment. The proposed regulations are designed to smooth Colorado’s elections, avoiding the many problems that have bedeviled them in recent years.

The Department of State last week unveiled drafts of Rules 37 and 45, covering the acquisition and certification of voting systems used by county clerks across the state, and plans to air reactions to the proposals at a meeting set for Oct. 20 (see box) before beginning the formal rule-making process at the end of the month.

While voting reform advocates universally praise Buescher for opening up the process – in effect, giving the public a chance to weigh in before the more rigid rule-making begins – some warn that the current drafts could cement in place a system that’s badly broken and in need of repair.

“This is not a comprehensive rule change,” said election reform advocate Al Kolwicz after listening to election consultants recite the draft rules for nearly two hours on Oct. 2. “It’s a patch.”

…The revised rules are only the latest step in a series of attempts to sort out the chaos surrounding Colorado voting equipment. Starting in 2006, when a Denver District Court judge ruled that then-Secretary of State Gigi Dennis had done an “abysmal” job by failing to properly certify the security and accuracy of electronic voting systems used throughout the state, warring factions have included Dennis and her successors, county clerks, equipment manufacturers, voting reform advocates and an irate public.