My daughters are in school now and learning about democracy for the very first time. They are taught that every citizen has the right to vote. I know they’re right, but I also know that in practice, we have to make sure that partisan power plays don’t trample those rights.
Over the last two weeks, the Republican speaker of the House in Colorado seemed intent on subverting the very essence of the democracy we believe in. In denying members of the Colorado House of Representatives the right to even vote on the civil unions bill, he made clear that his vision of democracy is very different from what we all learned in school. Whether you agree with them or not, legislators are our representatives and to deny them a vote is to deny us a vote.
In a nod to dictators under fire, the Republican leadership, knowing that a bipartisan majority of the legislature would approve the civil unions measure, just closed down government rather than hold a vote. That is no different from a two-bit despot, fearing a loss of power, canceling an election rather than being voted out of office. After seeing this, who can blame the world for mocking us when we talk about democracy?
Sure, federal legislators for years have denied majority votes and worked hard to slow the democratic process. People are familiar with the bipartisan (and now overused) filibuster in the U.S. Senate. But we thought we were better than that in Colorado. With an approval rating just below most cigar-chomping dictators, you’d think the Republican leadership in Colorado would want another role model.
Coloradans have always been at the forefront, making our process better than Washington. We voted for transparency in 1972, becoming the first state with Sunshine Laws. When our elected officials were being denied the chance to have their proposed bills heard in committee, Coloradans made sure each legislator had a voice and a vote with our GAVEL amendment to the state constitution in 1988.
It’s not to say that there has never been political gamesmanship in the Colorado legislature. Bills are regularly sent to committees to be killed without allowing floor votes. The fate dealt to the civil unions bill was different. That bill passed through the rigorous process necessary to bring it for a vote in the full House, but leaders played every childish game they could think of to deny our representatives, even in their own party, a vote. Denying legislators their right to vote is the same as denying ours.
These legislative antics do little to stem the tide of disgust people have with elected officials. How can we ask citizens to participate in our democracy if they think it’s a sham?
There is no doubt that gridlock and partisan games are a cancer in our system, with both parties at fault. But Colorado can and should be better than that. Whether it’s an 18-year-old soldier, a 90-year-old grandparent or our elected representatives, everyone should have the right to vote. It cost $23,500 a day to have a special session and the bill was still not heard. The House leadership wasted our money denying this vote and playing games with people’s civil rights. The civil rights of all people were at stake in the civil unions bill and our democracy is at stake if the process doesn’t change. While denying any citizens basic civil rights sends us back to a very unpleasant past, doing it with these tactics poisons our future. It’s time to let the people vote.
Attorney Bill Goldberg is on the board of directors of Colorado Common Cause. Katie Fleming, associate director, contributed to this commentary.
