In yet another bombshell that upended Colorado’s U.S. Senate race, a court decision Wednesday will keep two candidates from the Republican primary ballot.
Robert Blaha and Ryan Frazier remain just short of the signatures needed to qualify for the race, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Both campaigns plan to challenge the ruling. Blaha is seeking clarification on his order, and his status remains uncertain. Frazier announced plans to appeal the ruling in his case.
The signature counting, Frazier said, “could be unconstitutional and disenfranchising to the democratic process.”
Blaha took it a step further and called for Secretary of State Wayne Williams, a Republican, to step down for “gross mishandling of the petition process.”
“Wayne Williams threw three people off the ballot for trivial, meaningless reasons, disregarding Colorado voters’ intent. He can’t be entrusted with Colorado elections,” he said. “If you’re incompetent, there should be a price.”
DOCUMENT: Read the Robert Blaha ruling
DOCUMENT: Read the Ryan Frazier ruling
Former state Rep. Jon Keyser initially failed to qualify but later won a lawsuit to appear on the ballot.
Striking a sharp tone, Blaha added: “This is what the permanent political class does: They get in power and feed at the public trough. They are often incompetent, and there is never a political price to be paid.”
Williams rejected Blaha’s demand and didn’t waste time firing back: “Mr. Blaha seeks to blame others for his own campaign’s incompetence.”
District Court Judge Elizabeth Starrs determined the secretary of state’s office “appropriately reviewed the petitions” and “followed the applicable guidelines” but made clear the court can apply a more lenient legal standard to find “substantial compliance” and overlook the errors made by candidates.
In Colorado, statewide candidates can qualify for the ballot though the petition process, which requires them to collect 1,500 signatures in each of the state’s seven congressional districts. Blaha and Frazier fell short in the 3rd District, which sprawls from Grand Junction to Pueblo.
The judge allowed Blaha to count 120 additional signatures but it left him 49 short. Frazier added 237 signatures but remained 69 shy of the total needed, a Denver Post count shows.
The candidates need the judge to allow signatures collected by one staffer who worked for both campaigns but whose voter registration was canceled midway through his tenure because he forgot to list an apartment number.
James Day was a registered voter while collecting signatures for Blaha, but his registration was invalid when he worked for Frazier. The judge explicitly rejected the 45 signatures Day collected for Frazier, but left open the question as it applies to Blaha. Even what Day collected is counted, Frazier remains about two dozen signatures short.
The outstanding questions only further complicate the topsy-turvy race race to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and touched off a flurry of speculation on social media.
What made the situation worse: the secretary of state’s office first reported that Blaha made the ballot, only to rescind the statement minutes later.
John Frank: 303-954-2409 or jfrank@denverpost.com
