Gov. Bill Ritter signed a major bill aimed at reforming Colorado’s initiative petition process Friday, one week after a Republican secretary of state candidate made criticism of the bill a centerpiece of one of his first e-mails to supporters.
The bill — House Bill 1326 — clamps down on signature-gathering firms by prohibiting them from paying petition circulators by the signature and imposing a number of requirements designed to prevent fraud. The bill also creates a process by which people can have their signatures removed from a petition after signing.
The measure was sponsored by a bipartisan group of legislative leaders, including House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, and new Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont. House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, and Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, also signed onto the bills as co-sponsors.
“House Bill 1326 takes us a long way to ensuring that the ballot initiative process is free from fraud and free from bad action,” Carroll said Friday.
But Republican election attorney Scott Gessler, a candidate for secretary of state, railed against the bill in a campaign e-mail he sent to supporters last week. He said the bill will “attract litigation like flies” and will cause proposed initiatives to be tied up in court.
“This is the most unfair, draconian rule designed to prevent Coloradan’s voice from being heard,” Gessler wrote.
Gessler pointed specifically to a provision in the bill that would allow a petition circulator’s signatures to be tossed out if the circulator doesn’t show up in court to challenge allegations of misconduct. Gessler criticized current Secretary of State Bernie Buescher — a Democrat who was appointed by Ritter and intends to run for election — for supporting the bill.
Carroll, though, said Gessler misrepresented provisions of the bill in making his criticisms and said attorneys who bring frivolous challenges to petitions could be sanctioned. He then took a shot at Gessler’s history as a political attorney.
“Scott goes to court a lot,” Carroll said. “. . . I just think it’s funny that he would mislead people to what House Bill 1326 does. This bill is simple. It prevents fraud.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
