Scott Gessler's mom calls for voter-ID law at election-integrity hearing

By Sam Levin Thu., Dec. 13 2012 at 2:29 PM

"The problem can really be solved with legislation.... Scott is for voter ID," Gessler continued. "It's the only way that we can verify that the people that are getting ballots are the right people."

Sam Levin

Scott Gessler at one of the hearings last week in Arapahoe County.

Voter ID laws have been a source of controversy around the country. Supporters argue that they would prevent voter fraud, while opponents say that strict requirements can disenfranchise legitimate voters. Photo ID laws have been proposed in Colorado -- and Gessler, as his mother pointed out, has supported them. But the laws here aren't nearly as strict as ones that have drawn backlash in other states.

It remains to be seen whether this kind of bill will be proposed in the upcoming legislative cycle.

"If you look at their driver's licenses and their Colorado IDs, there's lots of ways we can look," Barbara Gessler said.

There was a range of testimony throughout the hearing and several speakers, like Barbara Gessler, expressed concerns about the potential for fraud. A speaker before her said, "We can sure as heck get our voter ID pinned down. That would solve all of our problems."

Barbara Gessler, in promoting voter ID laws, told a personal story.

"I was at O'Hare airport [in Chicago] two years ago and lost my driver's license," she said. "In order to get through security, I had to have ID, photo ID. I was frantic -- the only thing I had was my Costco card. And I showed it to the security and they accepted it, because my picture was on it with my name. So don't tell me that we can't get photo ID."

She continued, "I see a lot of people at Sam's Club that are not legal citizens that have...Sam's Club cards, so I know it's possible."

Voter ID laws weren't the only topic that stirred Gessler's mom. Barbara stayed for most of the hearing, taking notes on a yellow legal pad, interjecting her opinion at one point and chatting with several members of the audience.

"As far as the election day, we had problems with people who were insisting on voting even though they didn't register, so I insisted that they go to provisional ballots," she said. "Out of 900 voters, we had 99 provisional ballots. It was our only way of checking."

She added, "People don't want to stand in line. They'll fill out their ballots and put them in the mailbox."

Several in the audience applauded as Gessler returned to her seat.

Follow Sam Levin on Twitter at @SamTLevin. E-mail the author at Sam.Levin@Westword.com.

Tags:

ballots, Barbara Gessler, fraud, Scott Gessler, Secretary of State, voter-ID laws

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newman8520

Glad to read that it sounds like Mrs. Gessler is doing fairly well. I heard her last on the Caplis and Silverman show way back in January of 2011, defending her son for wanting to do legal work at his old law firm while being Secretary of State. Ah, the good ‘ol days of the SoS controversies.

Very sadly, she was saying at the time that her son bought her a house and was paying her mortgage, because she had many health problems as well as 13 eye surgeries, so there was no way she could work at all, as she was losing her vision. She said Scott was always a good boy, and he did well in working hard to take care of his family, as that is how he was raised. Heck, he even drives an old Honda to work, it was mentioned then and on a previous show.

She said “he wants to work and he’s not collecting graft’, and even in the difficult economic times, he was trying to be honest, which is rare for a politician, per Mrs. Gessler.

I’m sure Scott is a good son to his mother.

It is interesting that Mrs. Gessler, in the article, seems to speculate about and question the motives of others. I always thought that lawyers liked to question motives and use conjecture. I guess anyone can, should they decide to do so. Anyway, I’m glad she is doing well, and still defending her son and his causes.

michael.roberts moderator editortopcommenter

@newman8520 It's definitely a family affair, newman8520. Thanks for posting.

Natasha Schwertley

Apparently not his.

Jim_Beam

"I see a lot of people at Sam's Club that are not legal citizens that have...Sam's Club cards, so I know it's possible."

So she can tell that people at Sams Club are not legal citizens how? Oh because they aren't white or speak a language other than English at that particular moment. How does she shop at Sams Club with a Costco card? What do we do now show a voter ID and a drivers license? Who is to say someone can't obtain a fake voter ID? Gesslers job is to make sure every eligible voter has the opprotunity to vote, if someones status to vote is in question then that is why there are provisional ballots. As a former poll inspector in California the job of voter eligibility is up to the polling place and if there were any questions about an individuals eligibility they had to fill out a provisional ballot or I would turn them away. If someone ever had a problem with filling out a provisional ballot, which in my case never happened, I would have told them too bad so sad. Obviously his bigotry doesn't fall far from the tree.