Colorado’s Republican secretary of state and GOP lawmakers are asking Democrats for a two-year timeout on what they say is a flawed new election law that could impact the outcome of special-district elections this spring and the general election in November.

At a news conference at the state Capitol on Monday, they asked the Democratic majority to instead form a bipartisan group that could come up with election rules both parties could agree to.

“Elections don’t work on the honor system,” said Rep. Libby Szabo, R-Arvada. “Citizens don’t want their elections to be free-for-alls.”

Afterward, two Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Jessie Ulibarri of Westminster and House Majority Leader Dickey Lee Hullinghorst of Boulder, blistered Republicans, noting the new election law is supported by the majority of county clerks statewide.

But Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a gubernatorial candidate, said the election changes were a “rush to failure,” and were done without his input.

Also present was Jon Caldara, president of the libertarian-leaning Independence Institute and a Boulder County Republican. To highlight what he called flaws in the election law, last year he registered to vote in El Paso County, then quickly discarded that as his residence. The attorney general said he couldn’t be prosecuted because there is “arguable ambiguity within some of the new legislation.”

At issue is House Bill 1303, a sweeping measure Democrats passed last year that allows for all-mail ballots and same-day voter registration. That same-day voter registration, Caldara said, could result in what he has referred to as “voter tourism,” with voters easily voting in another jurisdiction to sway the outcome of a close race.

Local governments — some have elections this spring — worked with lawmakers to try to resolve some of the problems that last year’s measure created and unveiled a bill this year with bipartisan support. But the two Republican co-sponsors, Rep. Carole Murray of Castle Rock and Sen. Ellen Roberts of Durango, have since withdrawn their support of the bill, HB 1164.

Ulibarri said the pair had been “bullied” and “intimated” by the “right-wing” of their party. Not true, Murray said.

Republicans say the new bill is also flawed. Among other things, it ends secretary of state oversight, which lawmakers say is crucial in elections with a small number of voters where expensive bond projects could be on the line.

Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels

