Inquiry eyes election worker

Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 5, 2007 at midnight

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Secretary of State Mike Coffman said Friday his office is investigating whether one of its employees violated department rules by not disclosing he was operating a political Web site as a side business.

The decision to launch the investigation into Dan Kopelman came after a blogger notified the Secretary of State's Office this week that he was operating a Web site, "Political Live Wires," while working in the elections division, Coffman said.

Kopelman was told to remove the Web site, which he did on Thursday, Coffman added.

Kopelman, who started working in the Secretary of State's Office in January, is on leave unrelated to the investigation, and his future employment is expected to be determined when he returns Tuesday, Coffman said. Kopelman could not be reached for comment Friday.Pat Waak, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party, demanded he be fired.

"Elections, and the state office that oversees them, must be absolutely free from any appearance of partisanship," Waak said in a statement.

She said the secretary of state sells a list of all registered Colorado voters for $500.

"Did Kopelman pay the secretary of state for the data he then turned around and sold to his Republican clients?" asked Waak.

But Coffman said the investigation so far showed Kopelman did not have access to such lists. Kopelman works on the recertification of voting machines and does technical work on a database known as the Statewide Colorado Registration and Election system.

Kopelman has provided receipts that he made purchases from a third party, which bought the documents from the Secretary of State's Office, Coffman said.

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