DENVER (AP) -- A new commission charged with reviewing how Colorado runs elections will look at whether the state should rely more on paper ballots than electronic voting machines, and whether the state should move toward all-mail elections.

The Election Reform Commission created by state lawmakers met for the first time today. Members also plan to look at stronger postelection audits to double-check the accuracy of vote counts and how voters are canceled from the new statewide database. That was the subject of a lawsuit the week before Election Day.

The bipartisan 11-member group is composed of county clerks, election lawyers, a computer security expert and Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, the group's chairman. They're expected to make recommendations by March so lawmakers can make changes in time for the 2010 election.

Last week, Boulder County discovered that its optical scanners were counting black specks on paper ballots as votes. There were also extra print that may have rubbed off from other ballots that were counted as votes.

Boulder clerk Hillary Hall said it's not known how that happened but she stressed the need for tougher audits to catch such problems.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)