Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher on Tuesday outlined the details of a plan to overhaul the Denver Election Commission after a problem- plagued election cycle.
“We feel that the status quo is not working,” Gallagher said during a review and comment meeting with City Council members.
Gallagher wants to scrap Denver’s election commission – made up of two elected commissioners and a clerk and recorder appointed by the mayor – in favor of a single, elected clerk and recorder that functions like most other counties in the state.
To make that happen, Gallagher will have to collect about 14,000 signatures to get a question on the ballot in the upcoming May election.
The auditor’s proposal is one of at least three parallel efforts that have been hanging over the election commission since a string of oversights, bad decisions and equipment problems led to long lines on Election Day and delays counting ballots.
Councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez brought a similar proposal before a City Council committee last month. And Councilwoman Marcia Johnson proposed a plan that would have Denver’s clerk and recorder position remain as a mayoral appointment but create a single, elected official to oversee elections.
To add to the fray, Mayor John Hickenlooper’s investigative panel – which both Gallagher and Rodriguez are a part of – plans to make its own recommendations later this month.
Gallagher spokesman Denis Berckefeldt told council members that they are pushing the petition drive to “keep the pressure on” other city officials to change the election commission.
He left open the possibility that the auditor would drop the proposal if the council brings up something similar.
Hickenlooper’s panel meets today.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
