Until Florida’s 2000 presidential election, with its butterfly ballots and hanging chads, the political profile of a secretary of state was rather modest.
But that’s changed, in Colorado and elsewhere. Nowadays, supervising election operations has put the secretary in a super-heated spotlight.
Colorado’s 2004 and 2006 election operations have been wrought with controversy and litigation. It will be up to the candidate elected Nov. 7 to restore the credibility of the secretary of state’s office.
State Treasurer Mike Coffman, a Republican, is running against Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Democrat. We have little doubt that either man, if elected, would make needed changes. Indeed, these two have set a good example of how to run positive campaigns.
We have supported both Coffman and Gordon in past elections and have admired the performance of their current responsibilities. For this post, we believe Mike Coffman is the best choice.
Coffman is a man of extraordinary drive who understands the need to restore confidence in the secretary’s office after a year of questionable rule-making.
Coffman entered the race with a splash. He had planned a run for the governorship, but bowed out instead and rejoined the Marine Corps temporarily and helped the Iraqis develop voting processes for their first democratic elections.
As treasurer, Coffman has been an independent thinker who can stand up to the political winds. Even before a state judge ruled last month that new voting machines should be retested before the 2008 presidential elections, Coffman had promised, if elected, to re-certify Colorado’s machines after it was learned that Secretary of State Gigi Dennis had failed to adopt minimum security standards or properly document the testing.
Coffman also wants to tighten the state’s voter registration process, move regulation of bingo games and raffles from the secretary’s office to the Department of Revenue and make the secretary of state’s website more user-friendly.
The secretary is also responsible for overseeing corporate registrations, and Coffman said he would review fee levels and consider seeking general-fund money to run the office.
The secretary’s office is currently funded from the fees it charges for state registration services.
It’s critical that Colorado’s next secretary of state boost the professionalism of the office and operate in an even-handed and efficient manner. Both candidates are more than capable, and we believe Coffman is the best choice.
