Republican state lawmakers today accused state Chief Supreme Court Justice Mary Mullarkey of favoring Democrats while on the bench, pointing to recent ballot measure decisions and mill levy lawsuit delays.

The dozen lawmakers signed a letter asking Mullarkey to address their concerns at the State of the Judiciary speech given to the legislature every two years. 

"We are growing increasingly concerned that your court is acting in an overtly partisan manner," wrote the group, lead by Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma. "Over the past several years, decisions have been handed down or delayed by your court that defy any reasonable understanding of the law."

A spokesman for Mullarkey confirmed that she'd received the letter but declined to comment. 

Mullarkey was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 1987 and became the chief justice in 1998.

The Republican lawmakers point to the court's decision to allow the complicated, Democrat-backed budget Amendment 59 to go before voters this year.

Her court in 2006 kept the Republican-backed, anti-immigration Initiative 55 off the ballot because it was too complicated and covered more than one subject.

They also say that while a lower court has ruled Gov. Bill Ritter's mill levy freeze is unconstitutional, the state Supreme Court has delayed a decision and allowed the additional property taxes to be collected in the meantime. 

They also take issue with her role in redistricting and in an eminent domain decision.

Joining Gardner in signing the letter are Reps. Frank McNulty, Kevin Lundberg, Ken Summers, Jim Kerr and Jerry Sonnenberg; state Sens. Ted Harvey and David Schultheis; and Representatives-elect Kevin Priola, Scott Tipton and Randy Baumgardner.

Republican lawmakers today said they'll push bills in the 2009 session requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls and mandating Coloradans give proof of citizenship to register.

“Voting is a fundamental part of our democracy," said Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch. "As legislators, we must do everything in our power to protect the integrity of the proces. This includes making sure voting is fair, and reserved for only those who are eligible.”

McNulty and Sen.-elect Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, are expected to sponsor the proof-of-citizenship-to-register bill. The legislation would designate which documents could be used to prove citizenship, Republicans said, though they did not offer specifics.

Meanwhile, Rep. Ken Summers, R-Lakewood, and Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, are to sponsor the photo ID legislation. Republicans said outgoing Secretary of State Mike Coffman, a Republican just elected to Congress, supports the measures.

“Coloradans deserve fair and proper elections that they can be confident in,” Renfroe said. “I view these proposals as a step in the right direction and so does Colorado’s chief elections official. Even one case of voter fraud is one case too many and these proposals would add one more firewall in the way of those who wish to taint our election process.”

Critics of similar bills in other states have said such measures frequently target the elderly and minorities, who tend to be Democrats and who are less likely to have photo ID such as a driver's license.

Critics also say that voter fraud _ especially in the form of voter impersonation at the polls _ is extremely rare. More common problems include intimidation of voters and improper purges of voters, opponents of photo ID requirements say.

House Republicans themselves have been experiencing some election integrity issues this week. House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, reversed himself Tuesday, saying he would not retire from his seat as planned because there were inappropriate "outside influences" on the leadership election to replace him.

House Republicans are looking into the matter, which some said is the result of discussions that a lobbyist had with certain lawmakers.

Members of a state panel charged with fixing Colorado’s election system got a bit of a jolt from a study unveiled today: Voters think the system ain’t broke.

Rice University political-science professor Robert Stein told the panel that exit polling he and local pollster Floyd Ciruli did in Colorado on Election Day this year shows a large percentage of people in Colorado are happy with their voting options. Stein said more than 80 percent of voters interviewed said they agreed that the voting system was easy to use and that they would use the system again.

Nearly 80 percent of people interviewed said they were confident their vote would be counted accurately.

The numbers were similar regardless of whether the person interviewed voted on an electronic voting machine or with a paper ballot.

“My sense is voters in Colorado, relative to the other states I’ve looked at, are reasonably satisfied,” Stein said. “... Whatever you’ve done, it’s worked.”

So, then, what exactly is the commission charged with ensuring voting accuracy and building trust in the state’s election system to do?

“I guess what I’m hearing here,” said Larimer County Clerk Scott Doyle, “is that voters do like their options, and a lot of what we're going to be doing here is looking at cost factors.”

In other words, the panel will look for ways to reduce how much it costs to run elections. Outgoing state Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, said this year clerks, out of fear of an Election Day mob scene, employed a “belt-and-suspenders” approach ensuring that voters would have plenty of ways to cast a ballot. But Gordon said providing all those voting options – by mail, early, on a paper ballot at a polling place or on a machine – costs a lot of money and county clerks perhaps “spent money in a way that may not be sustainable.”

This statement just released from House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, who announced last week he would be leaving the House to tend full-time to his businesses:

"Today I have made the difficult decision to temporarily delay my retirement from the House because of my sense of duty to the members of the Republican caucus. With the possibility that outside influences may have attempted to interfere with the leadership election, and the reality of a delayed election, I do not feel that now would be an appropriate time to leave."

“I will remain the representative of House District 44 and will continue to serve as minority leader until this situation has been resolved, as long as that may take.”

Speaking to reporters and editors at the Colorado Press Associaton legislative preview Monday, Gov. Bill Ritter said he had asked department heads to look at trimming 2.5 percent from their budgets in the final six months of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30

You can read more about it here:

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11240952

Three candidates have emerged for the House District 44 seat that Minority Leader Mike May has announced he will vacate in January.

Douglas County GOP operative Chris Holbert said he's won May's endorsement, among other Republican leaders. A consultant for trade organizations, Holbert ran campaigns for state Sen. Ted Harvey and state Senator-elect Mark Scheffel and had planned to run in 2010 when May would have faced term limits.

Dustin Zvonek, political consultant, manned Rep.-elect Mike Coffman's successful congressional campaign and worked on outgoing Rep. Tom Tancredo's district staff. He's received the endorsement of both his former bosses and state Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry.

Small businesswoman and relative newcomer Polly Lawrence describes herself as "a longshot." She helps run a family-owned construction company and has been active in neighborhood politics, acting as a resource on candidates and ballot initiatives, she said.

May announced Friday that he would step down in January to focus on his hotel business during tough economic times.

The three candidates are calling about 120 district captains and officials who make up the seat selection committee. Douglas County GOP Chairwoman Kelsey Alexander said Jan. 6 - the day before legislators are sworn in for the new session - is the tentative election date.

House Republicans plan to select their new leader later this week, replacing Rep. Mike May, R-Parker, who is resigning his seat to take care of his hotel business amid hard economic times.

House Republicans will meet Friday morning to elect a new minority leader. Rep. David Balmer, currently assistant minority leader, confirmed Monday he's interested in the job.

"It's critically important that the Republican caucus tackle the most challenging issues confronting Colorado," Balmer said. "I think my leadership style is to look for real solutions to real problems instead of just throwing grenades."

Balmer, serving his third term in the legislature, works for a company that redevelops environmentally contaminated properties. Balmer is known as a top GOP fundraiser in the House.

Also interested in the job is Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch. McNulty is serving his second term in the House and works as an attorney. He is an active leader among House Republicans and backed an unsuccessful ballot issue this year to use a portion of the state's severance tax for Interstate 70.

"The Republican Party needs to be about substance it needs to be about issues," he said. "I think here in Colorado we are off to a good start for the Republican resurgence basing our work on principles and issues and substance rather than a 24-month campaign, as our colleagues in Washington, D.C. have done."

Other potential contenders include Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, GOP caucus chairwoman in the House, and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, the minority whip. Neither were available for comment Monday.

Just two days after a faltering economy led House Minority Leader Mike May to announce his emminent departure from the legislature, it appears at least two DougCo Republicans are angling for his still-warm seat. 

Jeremy Pelzer, formerly of PolitickerCO.com, reports that Dustin Zvonek has House District 44 in his sites and has already garnered endorsements from some big-name GOPers like outgoing Rep. Tom Tancredo and newly minted state Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry.

Zvonek ran U.S. Rep.-elect Mike Coffman's successful campaign and told Pelzer's Mile High Politics that Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association President Chris Holbert will likely challenge him for May's seat.

Zvonek and Holbert's may not be the last hats in the ring by the time a vacancy committee appoints May's replacement in January.

"There are a lot of ambitious Republicans in that district, and there
will be a lot of interest in that seat," state GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams said.

Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, soon to depart the state legislature, has little doubt who should be Colorado's next Secretary of State: Gordon himself.

"The other two finalists are Bernie Buescher and Andrew Romanoff," writes Gordon in a recent update sent to his e-mail list. "They are both fine public servants and I believe, regardless of the outcome of this current selection process, they will both find a place in public life where they can make a contribution.

"I can't help but think, however, that I am the most qualified for the Secretary of State position and have the most focused interest in the issues that are dealt with in that office."

Gov. Ritter is to pick from among the three, who were the finalists from among a pool of applications.

Gordon's e-mails sometimes include an eyebrow-raising anecdote and he didn't disappoint this time. He said he recently had dinner with state Sen. Jim Isgar and recounted a remark he said Isgar once made: "Once when Senator Owen, after a tough day at the Joint Budget Committee, was saying that he thought he needed a lobotomy, Jim said 'I thought you could only get one of those.'"

According to various news reports, President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu as his secretary of energy, ruling out Gov. Bill Ritter as a candidate for the position.

Ritter even yesterday had said he had not interviewed for a job in the Obama administration despite national speculation his name was among likely candidates.