Off-year elections, such as this one, are typically low-turnout affairs, but, then again, the stakes are rarely so high.
With Referendums C and D on the ballot, and Colorado’s fiscal future very much at issue, we hope this would be a record year for turnout.
Millions of dollars have been thrown into the statewide referendum races to get your attention. If that’s not enough, there are important school board races and bond and mill-levy issues for schools in many communities, plus some city tax measures in Lakewood and Aurora. In Denver, voters will cast their verdict on a dramatic new teacher-pay system known as ProComp.
Secretary of State Gigi Dennis, supervising her first election, is predicting about 45 percent of the state’s 2.9 million registered voters will turn out, but she’s hoping to be proven wrong.
No one seems to know whether high turnout would benefit the advocates of Referendums C and D or the opponents.
One theory is that with nearly 1,000 (994 to be exact) non-profits and civic and business groups supporting C and D, high turnout could bode well for passage. The proponents of the ballot measures say they are working hard to get supporters to the polls. Anti-tax voters are often quick to cast ballots in off-year elections, and advocates of a no vote on C and D are working hard to build on this base.
Since the Yes on C and D campaign is a bipartisan affair, proponents are utilizing the best aspects of both the Republican and Democratic get-out-the-vote machinery. GOP campaigners are rousting their fellow Republicans, with Democrats stumping among Democrats.
The full-court press already is on. Supporters of the measures have been canvassing neighborhoods for weeks. That’s because in 36 of Colorado’s 64 counties, all ballots in the Nov. 1 election will be cast by mail. Most hit voters’ mailboxes last week.
For or against, the C and D campaigns will establish the boundaries of state government. That’s reason enough to vote, and to badger a friend or neighbor or co-worker into casting their ballot, too.
Voting is more than our right; it’s also our obligation. It’s practically as simple as licking a stamp.
