Election Reform Now
Why Colorado Democrats should embrace election reform, how Kent Thiry's proposal suffers a fatal flaw, and what I've written on the topic.
Democrats Should Embrace Election Reform
In my article for the Colorado Times Recorder, I encourage especially Democrats to work on “concrete solutions” to needed election reform.
I explain the main problems with the existing rules:
1) Ballot access rules should treat all candidates equally, not give some people easier ballot access than others. But Colorado rules give party candidates easier ballot access than non-party candidates.
2) Those rules should be fair and not exclude some candidates due to their compliance costs. But Colorado rules require non-party candidates to undergo an expensive and physically demanding process of gathering many signatures on paper, which prevents some people with financial or physical limitations from running for office.
3) Government should not spend tax dollars to unfairly advantage some candidates over others. But Colorado rules spend state resources to run party-specific primaries, which give party candidates exposure and exclude non-party candidates.
4) Voters should be able to well-express their preferences to minimize the possibility of electing polarizing candidates who appeal only to a minority of voters. But Colorado rules limit voters to expressing a preference only for a single candidate, which in some situations can lead to a candidate winning without broad public support. Consider: In a three-way race, it’s possible for a candidate to win with with only 34% support, even if a majority of people would prefer that either of the other two candidates wins. We also face situations in which a minor-party candidate might “spoil” the race for a major-party candidate.
Here I don’t get into the problem of party insiders filling legislative vacancies.
I also address the argument that election reform should wait. Read the entire piece.
A Deal-Breaker Regarding Thiry’s Ballot Measure
Here is a detail about Kent Thiry’s proposed ballot measure that I have not yet addressed: It would implement reforms by amending the Colorado Constitution (see updates about this).
For the most part, election rules should be statutory, not constitutional. As I have mentioned, the rules in question currently are statutory. See a Secretary of State document for details.
I’m not totally sure about this, but I think that the reforms I favor could all be made at the statutory level. Certainly at least a number of them could be. Insofar as they can be a matter of statute, they should be. Locking these rules away from legislative updating is just a stupid idea. Isn’t the entire point to trust representative democracy?
I particularly dislike the idea of locking ranked choice voting in the state constitution, given that a) there are different sorts of ranked choice voting, b) some people have legitimate concerns about ranked choice voting, and c) approval voting is better.
To me, that Thiry’s measure seeks to implement the relevant reforms via constitutional amendment is, by itself, reason to vote against it (assuming it makes the ballot for next year).
My Articles on Election Reform
I’ve been beating this drum for years now. Unlike some of the causes I promote, election reform actually has some realistic chance of happening. I thought it would be useful to round up my articles on the topic. My views have changed somewhat in the details, but I still see the basic problems at work and embrace the same general sorts of solutions.
For better politics, let’s separate party and state
Colorado Sun
December 30, 2018
Note: I’m okay with non-party primaries.
Get government out of party primaries
Complete Colorado
March 22, 2022
Time for divorce between government and political parties
Complete Colorado
February 28, 2023
Stop letting party insiders fill legislative vacancies
Complete Colorado
November 14, 2023
Flaws need fixing in Kent Thiry’s election ballot measure
Complete Colorado
November 28, 2023
Shocker: Party Insiders Defend Party Privilege
Giving political parties special election advantages is morally wrong and anti-democratic.
Colorado Pickaxe
November 29, 2023
No Need to Delay Important Election Reforms
Colorado Times Recorder
December 1, 2023