Opponents of state civil rights initiatives always complain about fraud by initiative supporters, by which they mean petition gatherers describing as a civil rights measure a proposal that would prohibit the state from treating some people better and others worse because of their race . Yesterday I reported (here) that there really does seem to have been fraud in Colorado … committed by the initiative’s opponents.
Today another example of fraud on the part of the civil rights initiative’s opponents in Colorado has come to light.
For the second time in as many days, opponents of a citizen-led civil rights initiative are facing allegations that they manufactured voter fraud allegations. The latest dust up: A Democrat state legislative aide who had claimed to be a victim of voter fraud saw her complaint dismissed after state officials learned that she was not a registered voter.
On February 26, Chloe Johnson filed a complaint with Secretary of State Mike Coffman’s office alleging that she was tricked into supporting Amendment 46, also known as the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, a ballot effort designed to end race and gender preferences in government hiring, education, and contracting. The complaint was formally dismissed by the state’s Office of Administrative Courts because Johnson never registered to vote.
….
Under Colorado law you must be a registered voter in order to sign a petition. According to Rich Coolidge, Coffman’s spokesman, “If you know you aren’t registered, then you have perjured yourself by signing a petition.”
The Colorado Civil Rights Initiative states that
The state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any group or individual on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public contracting, or public education.
Johnson claims that she signed the petition because she believes in “preventing discrimination anywhere,” but became “outraged” after signing it while she was working as intern for a Democratic representative and realized, allegedly for the first time, that CCRI would bar the sorts of racial preferences that are at the core of many affirmative programs.
Turns out she really didn’t want to prevent discrimination everywhere. In any event, “[m]ore than six weeks after lodging her complaint, Johnson is still not a registered voter….”
