Colorado Election Czarina Jena Griswold is being challenged in court for failing to certify a Republican’s petition by 46 signatures to make the primary ballot for the 7th Congressional District race.
This is for the congressional seat being vacated by Democrat U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who has already crowned his heir apparent as Mr. and Mrs. State Sen. Brittany Pettersen, running unopposed in the Democrat primary.
Erik Aadland’s lawsuit filed in Denver District Court this week argues that 49 signatures belonging to GOP voters in the district were incorrectly dismissed, and another 81 signatures were tossed on the belief the signatures didn’t match those on file.
Stating the obvious, Aadland called Griswold a “partisan hack” who put “her finger on the scale” for the glory of Democrat Party Comrades. Okay, so we added that last part.
From Colorado Politics:
“It appears that she has abused her powers to unduly prevent me from being on the ballot,” he said. “Not only does this smell of corruption, but it is a dangerous precedent that can affect the outcome of our elections.”
Added Aadland: “I am launching this lawsuit on behalf of all candidates regardless of party because ballot access and election integrity are fundamental to our democratic process and the workings of a free country.”
The Secretary of State’s office responded that all rules were followed and blah, blah, blah, fair and equal, blah, blah, blah, can’t comment on pending litigation.
We don’t blame Aadland for challenging the Secretary of State’s office.
Griswold has indeed shown herself to be a partisan hack at a time when the integrity of our election system is paramount.
Meanwhile, Aadland is still pursuing the party assembly route next month, which requires 30% support to get on the ballot.