Robert Blaha, Ryan Frazier fail to make U.S. Senate primary ballot
DENVER, April 28, 2016 -- U.S. Senate candidates Robert Blaha and Ryan Frazier were declared insufficient to appear on the Republican primary ballot, Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams announced today.
They were required to gather 1,500 signatures from Republican voters in each of Colorado's seven congressional districts for a total of 10,500 signatures per candidate. The Secretary of State's office conducted a line-by-line review of their petitions.
Blaha, a Colorado Springs businessman, submitted 17,844 petition signatures to the Secretary of State's office. Of that, 10,507 were deemed valid. He was short in three congressional districts.
Frazier, a former Aurora City Council member, submitted 18,581 petition signatures. Of that, 11,108 were deemed valid. He was short in four congressional districts.
Signatures were rejected for a variety of reasons, including the signer was not a Republican, the signer's address did not match voter registration records, duplicate signatures and notary errors. (More information is available in the attachments at the end of this press release.)
Blaha and Frazier's campaigns have five days to protest the decision in Denver District Court.
A judge already is considering an appeal from former state Rep. Jon Keyser, who was ruled insufficient on Monday after coming up 86 signatures short in the 3rd Congressional District. The Secretary of State's ballot-access team rejected petitions from a Keyser circulator whose address on the forms did not match the address on his voter registration.
In all, four Republicans submitted signatures to try to get on June 28 primary ballot for the U.S. Senate. Williams last week announced that Jack Graham, the former athletic director at Colorado State University, was sufficient and made the ballot.
Also on the GOP ballot for Senate is El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn, who received 70 percent of the delegate vote at the Republican state assembly April 9. The incumbent, Sen. Michael Bennet, was nominated at the Democratic assembly April 16 and is unopposed in his primary.
Statement of Insufficiency - Blaha (PDF)
Petition Signers - Blaha (XLSX)
