February 07, 2013 11:54 AM UTC

Lest There Was Any Doubt, Scott Gessler Will Say and Do...Anything

• 6 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

You can say this for Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler: at least he's been consistent in the hubris department.

Readers of Colorado Pols are well familiar with the many lawsuits, unethical actions and attempts at reducing voter turnout tied to Gessler. In fact, it was just a few weeks ago that a district judge blocked Gessler's attempts at limiting mail ballots.Here's an excerpt from what we wrote on January 22:

Gessler had his stated reasons, namely to ensure "uniformity" across the state, but as two judges have now ruled, his prescribed remedy would have the effect of making it harder for a large number of otherwise legal, registered Colorado voters to exercise their voting rights. That's the wrong kind of "uniformity." Gessler, put simply, sought to resolve ambiguity in the law in a way that penalized certain voters, creating an artificial barrier to the franchise with clear partisan implications–and would have reduced the number of otherwise perfectly legitimate votes cast.

You might then be as surprised as we were to see a press release touting Colorado's great work in ensuring fair elections and strong voter turnout. From the release (full text after the jump):

The Pew Charitable Trusts released its report showing Colorado in the top four states for election administration…

…"Colorado can take great pride in this report, which recognizes our state as a national leader," Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler said. "For the 2012 election, we added to these successes, with initiatives that pushed domestic and overseas turnout even higher and improved overall election integrity."

Yes, this really happened. This is the same Scott Gessler who sued the city and county of Denver for sending out what he thought were too many absentee mail ballots. Here's what Gessler had to say back in October 2011 when he was denied a request for a preliminary injunction to stop those "illegal" absentee ballots from being sent:

“Coloradans can continue to expect my office to enforce the laws on the books, preserve statewide uniformity, and ensure election integrity,” Gessler said. “Unfortunately, the judge’s decision today allows counties to operate this election differently based on how much money they have. We’ve seen constant erosion of personal responsibility and this decision continues that erosion."

Had Gessler been victorious in his lawsuit and other attempts to limit turnout, it's safe to say that the Pew Charitable Trust would have been less enthusiastic about Colorado's election administration. This isn't Gessler taking credit for something he didn't do; this is Gessler taking credit for something he actively tried to prevent.

Colorado recognized as a national elections leader
Pew Charitable Trusts ranks Colorado 4th best for 2010 election administration

 

Denver, Colorado – The Pew Charitable Trusts released its report showing Colorado in the top four states for election administration. According to its Elections Performance Index, Colorado ranked 12th for the 2008 election and improved to fourth for the 2010 election. And Colorado’s elections got even better for the 2012 election- the Secretary of State’s office today released its report on the successful 2012 election (PDF).

The Elections Performance Index gave Colorado particularly high marks for its high voter turnout, acceptance rate of military and overseas ballots, and online voter registration and lookup tools. The report also states, “Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin were among the highest-performing states during both the 2008 and 2010 election cycles.”

"Colorado can take great pride in this report, which recognizes our state as a national leader," Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler said. "For the 2012 election, we added to these successes, with initiatives that pushed domestic and overseas turnout even higher and improved overall election integrity."

According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, the 2012 election will be reviewed at a later date. For the 2012 election, Colorado released the nation’s first web-optimized online voter registration and lookup and an expanded statewide electronic ballot delivery system for Colorado’s military and overseas voters.

For more information about the Pew Charitable Trust’s Elections Performance Index, please visit pewstates.org.