January 14, 2009 07:30 PM UTC

Seal Envy Again?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Seems like we go through this every year, as the Colorado Independent reports:

From the Department of Wait, Seriously, Are They Kidding, johne of Square State notices the House District 49 Republican vacancy committee plans to convene at the Allnutt Funeral Home in Fort Collins to pick a successor for Rep. Kevin Lundberg, who was elevated to the Colorado State Senate last weekend. That’s right, they’ll be naming Lundberg’s replacement at a funeral home…

More importantly, though, Square State points to an unfolding felony on the Web site of one of the announced House District 49 hopefuls. Windsor businessman Ray Walter proudly displays as a background image the Colorado state seal, complete with “the eye of God with rays” and “a bundle of sticks with an ax blade projecting.” The problem? “The Secretary of State alone is authorized to affix the Great Seal of Colorado to any document whatsoever, and then only, in pursuance of law.” It’s not just a formality, either. “Illegal use of the seal is a class 5 felony (CRS 24-80-902),” the secretary of state’s guidelines warn. Probably not the best foot forward for an aspiring lawmaker, Mr. Walter.

Former Secretary of State Mike Coffman clarified the question a couple years ago when a partisan Republican campaign site was caught using the seal improperly. GOP leaders stumbled over themselves trying to adhere to the law, which a Colorado Independent investigation found had been broken again and again by zealous Republican operatives.

A poll follows: why does this keep happening to Republicans?

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