LISTEN: GOP Congressman Ken Buck Repeatedly Pressures State Party Volunteer to Submit False Primary Election Results
Photo credit: Patrick Semansky, Pool/Getty Images
Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO) repeatedly pressured a local Republican Party volunteer to sign a false affidavit with inaccurate election results to set the GOP primary ballot for a Colorado state senate seat.
Buck, who is also the Colorado Republican Party chair, was recorded making the demands on an unpaid party official, and an audiotape of the conference call was later obtained by the Denver Post. In the recording, Eli Bremer, the party chairman for state’s 10th senate district, can be heard repeatedly pushing back on Buck, who emphasizes that the party’s central committee wants him to certify to the state that two Republican candidates should be listed on the upcoming ballot, even though only one of them garnered the necessary 30% threshold during a recent district assembly vote.
Listen to the audio recording below, via the Denver Post.
“Do you understand the order of the executive committee and the central committee that you will submit the paperwork to include Mr. [David] Stiver and Mr. [Larry] Liston on the ballot, with Mr. Liston receiving the top-line vote?” Buck can be heard at the beginning of the recording.
“Uh, yes, sir, I understand the central committee has adopted a resolution that requires me to sign a false affidavit to the state,” Bremer replied.
“And will you do so?” Buck followed up, without acknowledging or refuting Bremer’s explosive claim.
When Bremer then explained that we would have to seek legal counsel before following through on what he believed was a illegal act, Buck pressed him again.
“And you understand that it is the order of the central committee that you do so?”
“Yes, sir, I understand the central committee has ordered me to sign an affidavit stating that a candidate got 30% who did not.” Bremer reiterates. “And I will seek legal counsel and determine if I am legally able to follow that.”
“All right, Mr. Bremer, I understand your position; we will now move on,” Buck concluded.
Bremer never submitted the false election results
Buck later told the Post that he was not soliciting election fraud, but was merely clarifying party rules.
“What I was asking Eli to do was not to commit fraud, I was asking Eli if he understood the decision of the central committee and if he was willing to follow the request of the Republican central committee,” Buck explained. “It wasn’t like I was asking him to do something because I have a personal stake in the process.”
