Pro-affirmative action group to sue Secretary of State

A group that launched a failed attempt to protect affirmative action programs in Colorado will sue Secretary of State Mike Coffman today for throwing away up to 5,300 valid signatures that would have bolstered the initiative’s chances to make it onto the ballot.

The measure, called Initiative 82, sought to preserve affirmative action programs in the face of Amendment 46, a controversial ballot proposal which, if passed, will destroy them.

Colorado University law professor Melissa Hart, who is also spearheading the Vote No on Amendment 46 campaign, claims that the Secretary of State’s Office tossed out signatures that belonged to registered active voters, including the signature of Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey’s son, according to 9News.

Hart and others also attempted to sue Amendment 46 backers for hiring out-of-state signature gatherers, which is illegal in Colorado. The suit also claimed that Amendment 46 garnered tens of thousands of invalid signatures. But Hart’s group dropped the suit last month and decided, instead, to focus on a vigorous Vote No on Amendment 46 campaign.

It appears, however, that Hart and other defenders of affirmative action have not given up on legal challenges entirely with this latest suit against the secretary of state.

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