It seems the sue-happy-hit-squad, Colorado Ethics Watch (CEW), continues to flout its bullying through lawsuits. In its latest lawsuit against the Secretary of State, CEW claims that Gessler exceeded his rulemaking authority by adjusting the campaign finance filing dates, even though it agrees with Gessler’s outcome.

As many of you know, in off-year elections campaigns and committees file disclosure reports quarterly. These reports are typically light on donations and spending. However, with the primary date moving to June 26, some could argue that committees would be required to file disclosure reports every other week until the primary. That’s almost a year away!

The law says that starting in July, candidates and committees would file bi-weekly reports up until the primary, which was the second week in August. But with the primary date shift to June, these bi-weekly reports starting in July would last a full year. I’ve done these reports in the past and it’s already a miserable experience. Reports due every other week for a year would be absolute torture and even CEW agrees. According to an article in the Pueblo Chieftain, CEW’s Luis Toro says, “We don’t want 11 months of reports either.” But he’s willing to sue anyway.

Clearly, there is some ambiguity in the law. Gessler took steps to clarify that portion of the law to give candidates guidance on filing deadlines. Unfortunately, Toro believes that the ambiguity is better for Colorado than clear guidance. But don’t worry candidates, even if Toro prevails in his frivolous suit and everyone has to file reports every other week for the next year, he won’t file lawsuits against you if you continue to file quarterly reports. Make sense? No? See you in court.