Remember last week when I warned that 2008's version of Katherine Harris - Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman - was using his power to try to throw the election here in this swing state? Four days before the election, he's gone into overdrive. According to a breaking news story just off the wire, he has been violating federal law with his voter purges, which - despite his public assurances to the contrary - have been continuing:
A federal judge today angrily ordered Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman to stop purging names on the state's voter registration rolls.
The judge's order came in a telephone hearing this afternoon that was the latest clash between Coffman and a trio of advocacy groups who had sued Coffman over the purging of the voter rolls so close to the election.
Wednesday night, the two sides reached a settlement designed to ensure voters whose registrations were cancelled within the 90 days before the election wouldn't be disenfranchised on Election Day.
But state officials acknowledged today that 146 more names had been purged since the settlement was reached.
Coffman has said previously that he has followed the law and is allowed to cancel voter registrations this close to the election for a variety of reasons. Attorney General John Suthers, who, like Coffman, is a Republican, has said Coffman was legally allowed to cancel 2,454 duplicate voter registrations close to the election.
This is serious stuff, and because it is in one of the most closely contested states in the country, it has very clear national implications. Contact the Colorado Secretary of State's office immediately to lodge your protest, and then call Governor Bill Ritter's office to demand he use his power to stop the state government he runs from disenfranchising voters:
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