Dear members, 

Today, I am proud to share with you Colorado Common Cause’s 2024 Ballot Guide. In this guide, we present recommendations on three of Colorado’s statewide ballot measures, along with three local measures that voters in Denver, Westminster and Boulder will be voting on. 

We took positions on these measures because they directly impact the issues that Colorado Common Cause has been pushing forward since 1971. We are working to build a more inclusive, equitable, justice-driven democracy where all Coloradans are represented fairly and where power is held accountable. 

I wanted to take an extra moment with you, our members, to share more about why our organization is recommending a “no” vote on Proposition 131, Establishing All-Candidate Primary and Ranked Choice Voting General Elections. 

Proposition 131 proposes creating “jungle” primary elections where all candidates run against one another regardless of political party, with the top four vote-getters advancing to the general election. This would take effect for US House, US Senate, State Legislature, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and State Board of Education. It would not apply to the office of the President, District Attorney, county races, municipal races, school boards, or special districts – these races would be conducted as they are now, possibly appearing on two separate ballots or altogether on one long ballot. Voters would then use ranked choice voting to select winners in the general election, from fields of up to four candidates.  

Proposition 131 is not a straightforward ranked choice voting initiative. By creating a jungle primary and reshaping general elections to include four candidates, we risk giving an even greater advantage to wealthy candidates and a bigger voice to special interests.  

Colorado Common Cause has fought for decades to stop dark money and special interests from controlling our elections. We fought against the disastrous Citizens United decision in 2012 when we led the coalition to pass Amendment 65 with the support of 74% of Colorado voters, calling on our federal delegation to pass a federal constitutional amendment limiting contributions. In 2002, we led the campaign to pass Amendment 27, which limits campaign contributions and spending in Colorado’s elections and ensures full disclosure of the money spent to influence our elections.  And all the way back in 1974, we were behind the first law requiring any sort of public disclosure of campaign contributions and spending. 

Under Proposition 131, candidates will have to spend that much more in the general election to rise above a four-candidate field, provided they spent enough in the primary election to advance as a final four candidate. When we look at Colorado’s legislature now, we know that we have more women in office than most other states, and people of color make up a larger share of our State Legislature compared to the demographic makeup of our state – and that is an achievement we should all be proud of. Expanding the candidate field in the general election means independent wealth or outside, unreported special interest money will be increasingly important to getting elected, and that comes at the expense of everyday Coloradans seeking to run for office to represent their communities. We are concerned that this model will tilt the playing field toward candidates with more money and can be easily manipulated, putting reflective representation of our communities at risk. 

Common Cause believes greatly in the power of ranked choice voting when the policy is right. Common Cause New York was a major force behind the passage and implementation of ranked choice voting for NYC’s mayoral elections, and Common Cause has worked on other successful campaigns in New Mexico, Oregon, California, Maine and Hawai’i. 

Proposition 131 is not what is best for Colorado. Even groups like Ranked Choice Voting for Colorado who work directly on ranked choice voting efforts in our state are not supportive of this measure, and we stand in coalition with the broad majority of our partners in the voting rights and civic engagement space in opposition to 131.  

When I took on this position in June of 2023, one of my first goals was to understand what organizing was happening on the ground across our state around ranked choice voting, and I learned about some of the exciting work happening in local communities across our state to explore these policies and bring them to a vote of the people.  

Unfortunately, the effort to design and pass Proposition 131 did not come from the grassroots; it was not brought about by the organizations, election officials, and legislators who worked to build Colorado’s best-in-the-nation election system to what it is today. Proposition 131 was workshopped and made its way onto our ballot as an independently funded campaign that spans efforts in several different states, and groups like ours were not part of the conversation. 

Our county clerks are raising alarm bells that the implementation timeline, as well as lacking investments for public education, are a recipe for hardship on our local elections offices and the dedicated staff who run them. Changes to how we audit the accuracy of our elections, changes to equipment, training judges to understand and accurately record voter intent – all of this takes time. This measure does not create the on-ramp we need to implement this soundly within the tight time frame. The groundbreaking reforms we’ve worked to accomplish over the years – mail ballots to all voters, same-day registration, all-county Voter Service Centers – these reforms were crafted by election officials, tested, implemented, and tweaked over time, so that we could really get it right and avoid unintended impacts to voters and our election system. 

For all of these reasons, Colorado Common Cause recommends a “no” vote on Proposition 131. We respect and value our partners, and members, who may see things differently. Should this measure pass, we will be ready to jump in and work side-by-side with election officials to answer the tricky and complicated questions about what comes next, in the best interest of maintaining secure, accurate, and accessible elections in Colorado. 

In common cause, 

Эли Белкнап 

Executive Director of Colorado Common Cause 

and our staff & Board of Directors 

Published October 15, 2024.