Caldara Gloats About His Voter Fraud in DP Editorial

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

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Jon Caldara, the infamous head of the Independence Institute, had an editorial printed in Colorado's paper of record yesterday telling the people of the state that they can now legally voter anywhere in the state that they want, and that the winner of elections going forward will be the campaign with the most buses. His evidence: "How do we know this? Well, because I'm not going to jail."

As this site has covered on multiple occasions, the law passed last year to expand voter access does not, in any way, allow voters to vote wherever they please, and numerous Republican elected officials have said as much, too. But that means nothing to Caldara, who has continued his "neener, neener" parade across newspapers and talk radio since the Colorado attorney general's office decided not to file charges against him. 

In the editorial, Caldara goes even farther, announcing an accelerated campaign to teach all Colorado voters how to legally vote in districts where they do not live. 

The question remains about how the 2014 legislature intends to deal with this issue, if at all. 

I support People, not Parties. I support Ideas, not Ideologies. I am an independent voter.

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Reminder: DO NOT Take Legal Advice From Jon Caldara

Jon Caldara.

As the Colorado Independent's Tessa Cheek reports:

Independence Institute President Jon Caldara says news that the attorney general is investigating former El Paso County Clerk staffer Alissa Vander Veen for voter fraud is not really surprising. For months he has been arguing and trying to demonstrate that a new law that put in place same-day registration in Colorado encourages troublemaking at the polls.

Caldara said he doesn’t remember ever speaking to Vander Veen or know anything about her case, but he added that he thinks the state’s Voter Access and Election Modernization Act “basically legalizes voter mischief.”

…Democrats, with the support of most of the state’s county clerks, passed the sweeping law last session, looking to increase voter turn out and up the efficiency of election administration for the digital age. Caldara joined Republican lawmakers in opposing the bill. He said so-called gypsy voters wold now be able to game the system by registering the day of the election wherever they wanted to vote in the state. Critics said the complaint was fear mongering and pointed out that state laws preventing voter fraud had not changed.

It was reported yesterday by the Colorado Independent that former El Paso County Clerk staffer Alissa Vander Veen is being investigated for violating rules for residency to vote in the Senate District 11 recall election in September. Vander Veen in fact used a VA loan to purchase a home in Pueblo last year, and such loans require the purchaser to use the home as their primary residence. Despite that, she reportedly affirmed an SD-11 address and voted in the recall election.

We'll be interested to see the results of that investigation, but for today, it's enough to be amazed by the endless chutzpah on display from another person under investigation for fraudulently voting in the SD-11 recall, the Independence Institute's director Jon Caldara.

Caldara, no stranger to the world of showy political statement, was determined to test the system. He posted a website encouraging “gypsy voting” and, although a longtime resident of Boulder County, he filed a transparently bogus registration in El Paso County and cast a blank ballot in the heated recall election there this summer.

“You know there’s an investigation on me as well,” Caldara said, deadpan. “That’s par for the course when there’s a complaint filed, the DA has to look at it. If the DA is conflicted, then he has to bump it up to the AG’s office… That’s not unusual, not necessarily nefarious.” [Pols emphasis]

Got that? Under investigation for felony vote fraud–"not unusual, not necessarily nefarious."

It is a truly absurd place we've arrived at in Colorado politics today, folks.

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BREAKING: Caldara Vote Fraud Case Under AG Investigation

Jon Caldara.

The Colorado Independent's Tessa Cheek breaks news on the developing controversy over Independence Institute director Jon Caldara's alleged vote fraud, committed during the recent recall special election in Colorado Springs:

Last week, Senate President John Morse’s campaign manager Christy Le Lait filed a complaint with Fourth Judicial District Attorney Dan May, calling for an investigation of political stunt man Jon Caldara, the Independence Institute director and Boulder County resident who made a show of committing “gypsy” voter fraud and casting a ballot in the El Paso County election…

Caldara has since announced that the flooding in Boulder had made it clear to him he shouldn’t move away from his children, who live there. He said, upon reflection, he won’t be moving to Colorado Springs after all.

May seems to be at least taking the complaint seriously. His office told the Colorado Independent that he was passing the case to the Attorney General’s office.

“I can confirm that this matter was referred to our office by District Attorney May,” wrote Carolyn Tyler, a spokesperson for the Attorney General. “However, we do not comment on investigations, except in certain instances involving public safety, which do not apply here.”

It seems likely that Caldara's "decision" this weekend to "keep Boulder as a permanent home" had more to do with this now-confirmed criminal investigation than anything else. Uninformed editorials from chummy newspaper editors notwithstanding, we have yet to see any defense for Caldara's actions other than "civil disobedience." As we've explored in detail since the incident, that's not likely to cut it in this case. What Caldara did, voting in a district that he does not live in after falsely affirming a "sole residence" there, is a felony under Colorado law. Every sane interpretation we've heard suggests there was absolutely no grounds, moral, legal or otherwise, for doing so.

This also settles the question of whether or not Republican El Paso County Clerk Wayne Williams, or District Attorney Dan May, would attempt to impede or prevent the prosecution of Caldara. It's a relief to see, whether DA May did it voluntarily or in response to a request from the Attorney General's office, that they are doing their jobs and investigating the case. Gov. John Hickenlooper requested the AG's involvement in part out of concerns that Caldara might skate in this highly conservative jurisdiction.

We said before that we hope Caldara consulted with a good lawyer before he pulled this ill-advised stunt. Now it looks like may get to see how well that as-yet unnamed lawyer does keeping Caldara out of prison.

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It’s All One Big Joke To Jon Caldara

UPDATE: Gazette editor Wayne Laugesen hotly points out in a comment (below the fold) that Caldara probably didn't leave his minor children in the house he "leased to renters" in Boulder while he rented former GOP Rep. Mark Barker's guest bedroom in Colorado Springs. While that leaves unclear the location of Caldara's minor children while he "lived" in a Colorado Springs guest bedroom and fraudulently voted in the Senate District 11 primary, it's good to know the kids weren't in a house that has allegedly flooded.

But that doesn't legitimize Caldara's disregard for the law, or making a joke of the floods impacting the state today as a pretext for some too-clever-by-half legal defense. After all, "he can't be this far from his kids" is a pretty good reason not to "move away" in the first place. Which Caldara didn't really do, as stated in his own press release.

It never ceases to amaze us how stupid some people think you, meaning all of us, are.

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Via Wayne Laugesen, editorial page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette, we finally learn how Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute hopes to resolve the sticky legal predicament he finds himself in. As reported, Boulder resident Caldara voted in the Colorado Springs-area Senate District 11 recall a week ago, after affirming under penalty of perjury that a "week-to-week lease" of a single room in ex-GOP Rep. Mark Barker's house was now Caldara's "sole legal residence." This led to angry warnings from Gov. John Hickenlooper that such attempts to "disrupt the process" are unlawful, and a request for Attorney General John Suthers to get involved if necessary.

Well folks, we're embarrassed to even show you this, but here is how Caldara apparently plans to skate:

Convenient, albeit an insult to so many legitimately inconvenienced, or worse, by this week's massive flooding along the Front Range. This latest move raises many questions, of course, like why (or whether, see update above) Caldara would leave his children in a home he has "rented out" while he made a single bedroom in another city his "sole residence." But more than anything, we would kind of like to know if Caldara has any shame left. At all. Because whatever contrivance Caldara uses to effect his getaway from Mark Barker's guest bedroom, everyone reading this knows he never had any intention of making it his "permanent home."

Election fraud notwithstanding, Caldara should be grateful you can't be arrested for being a callous asshole.

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El Paso elections chief warns Caldara: “You better darn well plan on really” living here

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Speaking on a Colorado Springs radio station yesterday morning (listen @28:35), El Paso Country Clerk and Recorder Wayne Williams warned political stunt man Jon Caldara that he "better darn well plan on really" living in Colorado Springs, or he'll be prosecuted.

Williams: Caldara decided he was going to highlight this problem. Again, he better have really – I understand he’s got a lease. He’s planning on residing there, and as he said, “checking out the Springs.” And we welcome him to our community. We are happy to have legitimate people who are living here live here. But you better darn well plan on really doing that!

Caldara, who lives in Boulder, cast a blank ballot Saturday in the recall election of CO Springs Sen. John Morse, saying he's renting a room in the recall district

On KVOR's Richard Randall show, Williams said he'll determine after the election if "someone lied" about living in Morse's district, and then voted. And "if they did, they can be prosecuted for a felony." 

Williams: But, what you have then, is a system that says, under the law, if I really do move there, I can vote. Now, the challenge is, we have no verification of that beforehand. What we will do is investigate. And we will find out if someone lied. And if they did, they can be prosecuted for a felony…. And that’s what we intend to do, Richard. We intend to prosecute.

Randall agreed with Williams, saying:

Randall: And I would say this: whether it’s Caldara or anybody else – some union thug from Boulder who does it, if it turns out you lied and you wanted to participate in an election, you had no business doing it, and you didn’t follow up by actually being honest about your intentions, I do want Clerk and Recorders like Wayne Williams and prosecutors like Dan May and John Suthers to hit you with a felony.

You have to appreciate Randall standing up against voter fraud, and nudging fellow conservative Williams along in the same direction.

Maybe Randall will inspire Peter Boyles, over on KNUS in Denver, to apologize for telling callers yesterday to commit felony voter fraud.

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Jon Caldara, Colorado’s New (And Maybe Only) Election Scofflaw

Jon Caldara.

?

The Gazette's Megan Schrader reports from Colorado Springs yesterday, where Independence Institute president Jon Caldara committed an act Democrats insist is a felony under Colorado election law:

Caldara lives in Boulder but attested a Colorado Springs address was his permanent residence in a sworn affidavit.

"It is easy to move voters around," Caldara said Saturday morning after casting a ballot he left blank at the Garden of the Gods voting center. "The whole purpose of this was to finally show what I think and I speculate happens often, that people come and use this same-day voter registration to move voters around."

Yet El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Wayne Williams said very few, if any, voters have exercised the rights granted by the new law.

No, folks, it appears that after so much hype about so-called "gypsy voters," the one person to try it is the conservative director of the organization that has staked its credibility on the claim. Election law experts have told us this is not just wrong, but preposterous–the law in question revolves around "intentions," and Caldara's "intentions" were to pull a stunt–to make a bogus point about a bill that was authored by county clerks on both sides of the aisle. And by pulling that stunt, no matter how many contrived "legitimate" circumstances he offers to prove his "residency," Caldara committed vote fraud yesterday. 

El Paso County Clerk Wayne Williams says to his knowledge, nobody besides Caldara has even tried this, because the circumstances where one could even plausibly attempt it are in fact quite limited. Williams reaffirmed that it's a felony to lie on the sworn affidavit Caldara signed, and that he will refer such attempts for prosecution. In Pueblo, Clerk Gilbert "Bo" Ortiz reports that only 39 voters have same-day registered out of some 11,000 votes cast, and all of them were required to legally affirm their residence.

“And those 39 have to sign a signature card affirming they are legally entitled to vote in Pueblo County,” he said. “To do otherwise is to commit voter fraud and I will refer any voters I suspect of that to the district attorney’s office.”

As for Caldara's "residence," it's purportedly a "week-to-week lease" of a single room in ex-GOP Rep. Mark Barker's house. Caldara owns a home in Boulder where he lives with his children. The idea that a bedroom in Mark Barker's house is now Caldara's "sole residence" is absurd on its face. There is precisely zero chance that Caldara truly "intends" to make a bedroom in Barker's house his sole residence. Ipso facto, he committed fraud by attesting that he did.

Bottom line: based on the competent legal opinions we're hearing, Caldara went too far this time and broke the law. His actions meet every definition of an attempt to defraud the election system, and vote in a district he does not reside in. Caldara reportedly turned in a blank ballot, perhaps as a firewall against prosecution, but we're told that doesn't matter. He still cast a fraudulent ballot.

The next step is for the El Paso Clerk to refer the case to the local district attorney for prosecution. Given the partisan affiliations of both of those men, we've already heard talk of going over their heads–to the federal Justice Department if needed–should they decide to let Caldara's actions slide.

For our part, we're relieved to hear that despite Caldara's blatant attempt to destabilize this election, spreading the utterly false story that anyone in the state can vote in these two Senate districts, few if any fellow citizens are listening to him.

We really hope that doesn't change between now and Tuesday.

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Caldara Vows To “Gypsy Vote” In Recall Election

Jon Caldara.

On Tuesday, we took note of a new website from the right-wing Independence Institute that appears to give instructions on how to vote in the upcoming recall special elections in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, even if you don't live there. The severely flawed premise of the site is a fictitious "unintended consequence" of this year's Colorado House Bill 1303, the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act, which some Republicans have claimed might allow voters from outside the two senate districts in question to participate. As even Secretary of State Scott Gessler's office has confirmed, that's false: a voter must have already moved to the district to claim their "intention" to reside there, and any false statement in the process of registering to vote is a crime. To actually vote under those false pretenses is felony voter fraud.

But nonetheless, as a press release from the Independence Institute announces today:

The Independence Institute president will exercise his legal voting rights in next week's recall election, casting a ballot in a district outside his current residence.

Independence Institute president Jon Caldara's decision to vote in the Senate District 11 recall kicks off the "Bring in the Vote" educational campaign, highlighting the significant legal changes in Colorado's "Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act," signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper on May 10.

Calling attention to the lax new election law sponsored by Senators John Morse and Angela Giron, both facing recall elections, Caldara announced that he has the "intention" to make his permanent home in Senate District 11, currently represented by Morse.

Under HB 1303, the "intention" to establish residence along with a few minor requirements such as being 18 years of age, living in Colorado for 22 days, and having an address in the district, permits almost anyone to "Bring in the Vote" and cast a ballot in any district.

"It is my belief that this extremely sloppy new election law was designed to legally move voters into districts where their vote is most useful. I will show how this dangerous new law works by easily and legally voting in the John Morse recall election," explained Caldara.

"John Morse sponsored this law and worked its passage through the Senate. And now, sadly, under this law future Colorado elections will be decided by which candidate has the most buses." [Pols emphasis]

Now folks, we don't know where Caldara is getting his legal advice, but we surer than hell wouldn't try this based on every sane interpretation of House Bill 1303 we've heard. Certainly if the legal question hinges on "intent," Caldara's "intent" is to mess with the system–and quite possibly to encourage fellow Republicans to do the same. That and to draw attention to himself, naturally. Either way, we are very confident that no one on the Democratic side of these recalls has any plans to bus people in to so-called "gypsy vote," because they all think this half-baked theory is completely wrong.

But apparently Jon Caldara isn't convinced. Maybe he's right–or maybe he's setting fellow conservatives up for disaster.

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Jon Caldara Hidden Camera #2: “We Can’t Screw Up”

A second clip of video of right-wing Independence Institute President Jon Caldara, speaking in Colorado Springs earlier this month about the recall special election coming up in September against Senate President John Morse. In the first clip we debuted last weekend, Caldara spoke of his goal to incite "a wave of fear" in state legislatures across the nation to stop gun safety legislation from passing anywhere else as it did in Colorado.

In this latest clip, Caldara delivers to fellow conservatives a stern warning:

CALDARA: …The entire nation comes to Colorado Springs and Pueblo to decide the fate of this issue. And it will go one way, or it will go the other way, and here we are. We've got a month and a few days to do it. That means we can't screw up. We can't make the mistakes that our team usually makes. We can't go out there in camouflage in front of the MSNBC news truck, and talk about how we need our guns for armed revolution [Pols emphasis] when these bastards keep taking away our rights!

To be honest, this is good advice from Caldara, despite the fact that he has repeatedly failed to take this kind of good advice during his own campaigns. During the long debate over gun safety legislation at the state capitol last spring, we made the observation that overly strident pro-gun activists, much like the "Occupy" movement or the Tea Party itself, might alienate swing voters they need if they appear too radical or rebellious. It's a fine line to walk, especially if one's natural tendency is to be, you know, excitable. And folks, let us just say, as delicately as we can, that there's a significant crossover between that tendency and right-wing politics.

But as we said about the "wave of fear" video's predictions, this is advice best given off-camera. Particularly when two recall efforts have already failed.

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