A Colorado government watchdog group may take its investigation of possible conflict-of-interest violations in the Secretary of State's Office to the state's ethics commission.

Chantell Taylor, director of Colorado Ethics Watch, said her group is considering asking the panel to investigate former Secretary of State Elections Director Holly Lowder's connections to John Paulsen, a Castle Rock businessman whose firm has election-systems contracts with the state totaling nearly $184,000.

Colorado Ethics Watch received a tip last month that Lowder claimed residence in a condominium owned by Paulsen. The group subsequently filed a records request asking to review Paulsen's state contracts.

In a two-sentence letter last week, Lowder abruptly resigned from her position of two years, saying she was retiring.

Taylor said the state's Independent Ethics Commission has subpoena power and could determine whether Lowder did anything wrong.

"I think the fact that she abruptly resigned is a good indication that it wasn't on the up-and-up," Taylor said.

Neither Paulsen nor Lowder returned phone calls Monday.

Reached by phone Monday, Secretary of State Mike Coffman declined comment and referred questions to his spokesman.

The spokesman, Rich Coolidge, said the office has investigated the claims against Lowder and "took appropriate action." He declined to specify what the office uncovered or what action was taken as a result, citing personnel privacy issues.

He said Lowder was not responsible for awarding contracts to Paulsen's company, LEDS, LLC.

"Lowder was in no way involved in the deliberations or the decisions involved in these contracts," Coolidge said.

Meanwhile Monday, the head of a liberal political group called on Coffman, a Republican running for Congress in the 6th Congressional District, to step down over the controversy.

"Secretary Coffman has a pattern of conflicts of interest and should resign immediately," Michael Huttner, executive director of ProgressNowAction, said in a statement.

Coffman has come under fire from ProgressNowAction and Colorado Ethics Watch a number of times in the past year after a state audit found that a secretary of state's election employee probably broke state law by operating a partisan side business and after it was learned that a lobbying firm working on Coffman's congressional campaign also was representing a voting-machine maker seeking recertification.

Coffman has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

State records paint a murky picture of the condominium connection between Lowder and Paulsen. Lowder registered to vote in Denver in June 2006, claiming the Cherokee Street condominium address as her residence. In February 2007, Paulsen bought the condo for $480,000.

It is unclear whether Paulsen rented the condo to Lowder.

"She's still registered there now," Taylor said. "So I think there is an overlap. We just don't know how long."