Colorado’s unaffiliated voters could easily participate in Democratic and Republican primaries under a bill a House committee will consider today.
Possible primary changes.
Under the current law, in order to vote in the primary an unaffiliated voter must register as a Republican or a Democrat. to vote in either a Republican or Democratic primary without changing voter registrations.
“Nearly four of every 10 Colorado voters chooses not to join a political party. Those voters are disenfranchised from choosing which candidates will appear in the general election, and this bill would give those 1 million Colorado voters a chance to help pick the candidates we vote on in November,” said former Gov. Bill Ritter, a Denver Democrat.
Unaffiliated voters comprise 35 percent of active voters in Colorado, with Republicans at 33 percent and Democrats 31 percent, .
When The Denver Post in 2013 , party activists were opposed. Then state Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, said letting voters who aren’t Republicans determine the outcome of a Republican primary is like letting a “non-Catholic pick the pope.”
The measure, by Rep. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, is scheduled to be heard by the House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee.
Rep. Dominick Moreno
The Colorado Open Voting steering committee has been working on the proposal for months. Members include Kent Thiry of Cherry Hills Village is chief executive of DaVita, a Denver-based kidney dialysis company, and Kelly Brough, CEO of the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce.
Unlike “open” primary systems in place in many states, under House Bill 1354 members of a party would not be allowed to participate in another party’s primary. The bill also includes a mechanism that allows parties to nominate their candidates through the assembly process if they want to continue excluding independent voters. The bill also permits a minor political party, such as the Green Party or Libertarians, to prohibit unaffiliated voters from voting in the party’s primary election
Colorado operates a semi-closed primary, where unaffiliated voters may choose to affiliate and vote in that party’s primary, while voters registered with a party may only vote in that party’s primary. In the general election, unaffiliated voters do not have to choose a party to be able to vote, and those who are members of a certain party can vote for any candidate on the ballot.
