A bill to step up the state's oversight of vote centers and elections won the Colorado Senate's initial backing Friday, despite an outcry by Republicans about a provision that gives parolees the right to vote.

"They haven't paid their debt to society in full," said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray. "I don't think they deserve all of society's benefits."

Senate Bill 83, passed on a 19-16 vote, is aimed at preventing the kind of problems that kept more than 20,000 voters in Denver from casting ballots in November.

A software meltdown led to hours-long lines at polling centers.

The measure, by Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, requires the secretary of state to set up guidelines for vote centers and sign off on all county election plans.

"The provision to allow parolees to vote is only one aspect to the bill," Tupa said. "In its essence, the bill . . . adds safeguards, which will go a long way in reducing the likelihood of another 2006 election fiasco."

The measure requires Denver and counties with populations of 400,000 or more to open one vote center per 5,000 voters.

Secretary of State Mike Coffman and Colorado Attorney General John Suthers have said they will oppose the change that would allow parolees to vote, contending it would violate the state constitution.

The bill awaits the Senate's final approval next week and then heads to the House.

In other action, the Senate gave initial approval to a bill that puts in place an ethics commission created under Amendment 41, which bans government officials and workers from accepting gifts worth more than $50 in a calendar year.

Senate Bill 210 also calls for asking the Colorado Supreme Court to offer direction to the ethics commission.

The Senate action came a week after both sides in an ugly battle at the Capitol crafted a compromise on implementing the ethics measure.

The compromise includes working with backers of Amendment 41 to put the issue on the ballot to clear up confusion over what's allowed under the measure, namely whether the children of government employees can accept college scholarships.

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