On Monday, the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP) requested Secretary of State Mike Coffman, a Republican, to step down from his office because of the controversy over the decertification of voting machines and possible conflicts of interest.Pat Waak, chair of the Democratic Party said Coffman’s office was under a cloud of controversy.
“The public’s confidence in the elections process continues to erode under the watch of this Secretary of State whose essential role is to fulfill his responsibilities as the state’s chief elections officer,” Waak said in a press release. “Coffman has failed miserably in his attempts to instill the confidence and trust the voting public deserves in the elections process. He needs to leave.”
According to a report by the Colorado State Auditor office last fall, Coffman’s office has at least a dozen problem areas that need remedy, including personnel board rules abuses and numerous conflict-of-interest violations among employees.
In December, Coffman announced he was decertifying all but one kind of voting machine because of security-risk factors. A position that Coffman has recently begun to retract.
Coffman is also running in the Republican primary for the Sixth Congressional District to replace retiring Rep. Tom Tancredo.