Two groups teamed up Friday to sue Secretary of State Scott Gessler, alleging the Republican overstepped his authority by raising the threshold for ballot-issue political committees to report campaign finances.
Common Cause Colorado and Colorado Ethics Watch filed the suit in Denver District Court. The challenge is to a rule that Gessler issued notice of in May that would raise the contribution and expenditure threshold for issue committees — which support ballot issues — from $200 as defined in the Colorado Constitution to $5,000.
In November, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the threshold was unduly burdensome.
But the court didn’t specify what dollar amount would trip a reporting requirement, saying only that the less than $1,000 spent in that case was “well below the line.”
Gessler said he attempted to set the new financial thresholds because he wanted to prevent further lawsuits against the state over the issue. He said the two groups’ lawsuit challenging his rule would only waste more time and money.
