President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Kamala Harris

(R) Donald Trump

80%↑

20%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(R) V. Archuleta

98%

2%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Marshall Dawson

95%

5%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Hurd

(D) Adam Frisch

52%↑

48%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(D) Trisha Calvarese

90%

10%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank

(D) River Gassen

80%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) John Fabbricatore

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen

(R) Sergei Matveyuk

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

60%

40%

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
May 17, 2007 07:39 PM UTC

Coffman Scrambles to Outline New Policy

  • 7 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols


You can file this under “too little, too late.” Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who has been under fire after it was revealed that political appointee Dan Kopelman was running a business selling voter lists, today announced new internal policies. According to a press release:

Secretary of State Mike Coffman today announced a new policy restricting outside, partisan political activity of employees of his office who are directly or indirectly involved in elections.

The policy details what political activities employees may – and may not – engage in outside of their official position with the Secretary of State’s office.

This is certainly a necessary step, but it still doesn’t help Coffman escape his claim that he didn’t know what Kopelman was doing. Creating a new employee policy doesn’t excuse the fact that what Kopelman was doing was wrong to begin with, and Coffman should have known that.

Click below for the full press release from the SOS office.

Secretary of State Mike Coffman today announced a new policy restricting outside, partisan political activity of employees of his office who are directly or indirectly involved in elections.

The policy details what political activities employees may – and may not – engage in outside of their official position with the Secretary of State’s office.

In developing the new policy, department staff contacted secretaries of state from across the nation to determine what, if any, guidelines other state elections officials have in place regarding outside, partisan political activity. The new policy, effective immediately, gives Colorado some of the toughest standards in the country. Every affected employee will be required to sign a form stating that they have read and agree to the restrictions.

“The most sacred of all of the freedoms bestowed upon Americans is the right to vote,” Coffman said. “It is my responsibility – and the responsibility of every employee in this office – to make sure that this right is exercised under a process that is always fair and honest to the voters of our state. This policy will help ensure that we never fall short of this standard.”

“I recognize that this policy should have been implemented on January 9, day one of my administration,” Coffman continued. “I take full responsibility for this policy not being in place prior to today.”

The new policy is as follows:

PROHIBITED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES:

  * Publicly endorse or oppose, or actively work for or against a candidate for a partisan office, a political party, a statewide ballot initiative or a referendum.

  * Contribute to a partisan organization or political party, candidate for a partisan office, or an organization that is working for or against a statewide ballot initiative or a referendum.

  * Hold an official position in a partisan organization or political party.  Participate in the partisan nominating process by attending precinct caucuses, assemblies or conventions.

  * Be a candidate for, or hold, a partisan public office.

PERMITTED POLITICAL ACTIVIES:

  * Register to vote under a partisan affiliation.

  * Fully participate in nonpartisan political activities, to include being a candidate for, or holding, a nonpartisan public office.

Coffman has also placed himself under tighter political restrictions.

“I believe it is important for the Secretary of State, as the state’s chief elections official, to be held to the same high standards; so I will adhere to the same restrictions regarding endorsing or contributing to partisan candidates, statewide referendums and ballot initiatives.”

Comments

7 thoughts on “Coffman Scrambles to Outline New Policy

    1. District Chairs may have legal responsiblities that put them in direct reporting to the Sec. of State. It should not be allowed for the employees to take these positions.

      Precinct Committee People are fine because they don’t have to the SoS’s office, only their party.

  1. Then this is just bluster.  The SoS’ office already confirmed he violated two provisions of his employment agreement.

    Coffman’s just another dishonest Republican, is what this says to me.

  2. In the “missing the point” department, I present this letter from the Denver Post:

    …Kopelman has a strong technical background, exceptional experience with elections, and an entrepreneurial can-do spirit that is sorely needed in the job ahead of him. The elections last fall show we surely need his help. I urge Coffman to stand behind him.

    This kind of unfair media coverage has just about killed the Republican Party in Denver.

    —John Wren, Denver
    The writer is a district captain for the Republican Party in Denver.

    That is, “we’ll get creamed again if we can’t cheat, and how dare a newspaper point that out.”  Tsk, tsk.

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Yadira Caraveo
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

63 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!