It’s been nearly eight months since former Garfield County Judge Steve Carter says he was ambushed by oil and gas money in his unsuccessful bid for county commissioner, but the Democrat is clearly still seething about what he considers a “stolen election.”

“If somebody parks in your parking place, you can call the police department and they’ll come and investigate it and give the guy a ticket. But if someone steals an election, the way it’s set up right now, neither the attorney general, the secretary of state, the local [district attorney] or the local police department have the power to investigate it, and I think that should be changed,” Carter said in an interview.

Formal complaints about illegal electioneering by so-called 527 political committees or nonprofits are typically left up to the losing candidate — who may or may not have the resources to pursue a complaint — and usually are filed after the fact.

“A crime is committed when somebody does those things and fails to disclose where they’re getting their money — the kind of political things that [Republican operative] Scott Shires’ group did,” Carter said. “However, unless somebody like Colorado Ethics Watch spends the time, money and effort to file a formal complaint, nobody will do anything.”

For the full story, please visit http://coloradoindependent.com/31921/anatomy-of-a-%E2%80%98stolen-election%...