On Tuesday, ColoradoPols.com unearthed a video of Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler talking about election integrity that may raise some eyebrows.
According to ColoradoPols.com, this is just a brief segment of a longer video that they received showing Gessler speaking before the Broomfield 9.12 Group, a local Tea Party organization, more than a week ago. Here's what Gessler says in the video:
So, obviously we have a big election coming up and everyone is -- properly so, I think -- very intensely involved, but there's always a lot of uptightness about it too, a lot of accusations being hurled about. So, let me talk a little bit about what we're looking at, at least from my perspective, in the election. I mean how do you know if you have a good election?
Well, Republicans win, of course.
To which the audience in the room reacts with a smattering of laughter and Gessler, who appears to just be joking around says, "No, no, no, I didn't say that. From the Secretary of State standpoint, how do you win an election?"
Off camera, a man then says, "Scott, we just talked about voter fraud just a little while ago...". Gessler, scratches his head, smiles and responds, "Yeah."
Just over a year into office, Colorado's Secretary of State Scott Gessler -- whose office is responsible for maintaining non-partisan and fair elections in the state -- has likely made the headlines more than all previous Colorado secretaries combined.
Gessler found himself in hot water in 2011 when he instructed county clerks not to mail ballots to registered (but inactive) citizens in their counties. He based his decision on a belief the practice allowed nearly 5,000 non-citizens to vote in Colorado's 2010 election - a figure as-yet unsubstantiated and potentially closer to zero.
While some clerks fell in line and followed Gessler's directive, others didn't -- pointing out that Gessler's orders would prevent legitimate voters from participating, including members of the armed forces who hadn't been around to vote in 2010.
This all triggered a lawsuit, Pueblo County Clerk Bo Ortiz and Denver's Clerk Debra Johnson both ended up on Rachel Maddow, and U.S. Representatives concluded Gessler's orders were "likely to disenfranchise eligible voters and should be condemned." Johnson and Ortiz won the suit and sent ballots to registered-inactive voters, but the larger issue of voter registration remained unsolved. (Watch the Maddow video below)
WATCH the ColoradoPols.com video of Gessler above.
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