Democrats kill non-citizen voter cancellation measure

DENVER — House Democrats voted down a GOP measure aimed at getting non-citizens off Colorado’s voter rolls on grounds that it isn’t needed and would needlessly make voting more arduous for thousands of legal residents.

The House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee voted down House Bill 1050, sponsored by Rep. Lori Saine, R-Dacono, by a vote of 3-7.

The proposal would have required the Secretary of State to coordinate the computerized statewide voter registration list with citizenship records maintained by federal and state agencies and to automatically cancel any ineligible voters electronically following a hearing.

“This is about accountability and integrity,” Saine said during the hearing.

Saine argued that many ineligible voters aren’t aware that they can’t legally vote under the law, and the Assistant Secretary of State backed that argument up.

Two new United States citizens also testified about receiving letters from the Secretary of State questioning their legal voter status. One of them, Veronica Flesher, told the panel that the letter made her feel “like a second-class citizen.”

“There is no more important right in our society than the right to vote,” said Rep. Angela Williams, D-Denver, toward the hearing’s end. “The people of Colorado deserve a system that protects and enhances every voters’ ability to register to vote and to participate in democracy.”