Sparks flew in the Senate Monday over a bill to require counties to operate more vote centers in the wake of November's election meltdown in Denver and Douglas County.

The Senate delayed action on the measure after a floor flight that lasted nearly two hours.

Senate Bill 83 is aimed at preventing the problems that kept more than 20,000 voters in Denver from casting ballots in November.

"It's the first substantive bill since the election fiasco," said Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver. "We're trying to address all the problems we saw with vote centers. Our elections must be run in a more effective manner."

SB 83, by Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, would require the secretary of state to set up guidelines for vote centers.

The measure was amended by Groff to require counties to open one vote center per 5,000 voters, to allow voter groups to turn in voter registration cards 15 days after obtaining them, and to allow election judges to work split shifts with the hopes of increasing polling place oversight.

Tupa objected to Groff's 15-day window on the registration cards, saying that it would weaken a measure passed in 2005 to make sure that cards were turned over to voting officials in a timely manner.

Democrats set out early in the 2007 legislative session to correct problems that left voters in Denver and Douglas County, in particular, standing in lines for hours because of too few vote centers and major computer problems.