DENVER -- Secretary of State Mike Coffman said there are major problems with security and accuracy among the various electronic voting systems used in Colorado.

He told lawmakers Tuesday that he's forging ahead with a plan to fix those problems and will then ask legislators to affirm his decisions.

"We need to hold a presidential election in 2008 and following an inflexible bureaucratic process is not going to get us there," Coffman said.

The secretary is asking for changes in the law that will allow him to expeditiously address the problems.

"I'm not changing any of the requirements for these voting machines to be secure and accurate," Coffman said. "It's just that I want to change the process."

Specifically, Coffman wants to use test data from other states without having to replicate the tests themselves. Right now state law doesn't allow that.

He also wants an abbreviated certification process, which would allow the vendors or manufacturers to offer patch fixes to software problems. He wants to allow counties to replace vendors in the application process to provide for immediate retesting.

And he wants counties to be able to file an appeal when their equipment has been "certified with conditions."

"I'm not convinced that the solutions offered here today would work for all 64 counties statewide," said Denver Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O'Malley.

O'Malley said she has faith that Sequoia, the vendor that has provided Denver's voting system, can come up with a patch to fix the security problems.

"They'll have to," O'Malley said. "As an existing customer... they have us on their priority list."

Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon said legislators will have to look at other options.

"If we wait to see if the current electronic voting machines will work by looking at patches, we may find that in three months they still don't work," Gordon said.

The majority leader said those three months may be better used focusing on a legitimate way to run the 2008 election.

"I think the Secretary of State's suggestions have some merit," Gordon said. "But they're all involved in making the current process work by using electronic voting machines. I think we should also consider moving away from electronic voting machines, seeing all the problems they have."

Gordon said he will seek public input on the voting system issues. He has set a public hearing for 9 a.m. on Jan. 3 at the state Capitol.

He added that when the Legislature convenes Jan. 9, there will be a number of bills introduced to deal with the matter.