Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline
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A last-minute lawsuit filed by three Republican candidates for office in Colorado claims allowing unaffiliated voters to participate in the GOP’s upcoming primary election violates their constitutional rights.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the state’s semi-open primaries violate the 1st and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Colorado Constitution. The plaintiffs want the court to issue an order prohibiting unaffiliated voters from participating in the June 2026 primary election.
The suit was filed by Ron Hanks, a former state representative and candidate in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District; Scott Bottoms, a current state representative and candidate for governor; and David Wilson, a candidate for attorney general.
“Unaffiliated voters are not members of the Republican Party, and we respect their choice to remain outside either major party,” Hanks says in a statement. “But unaffiliated voters should not then be forcibly allowed inside our party primary, where their ballots dilute the votes of dedicated Republican members who maintain the party and uphold our principles.”
The new lawsuit comes shortly after a federal judge shot down a similar request from the Colorado Republican Party to block unaffiliated voters from participating in its primary. Plaintiffs in the Denver lawsuit say the federal court did not issue a ruling related to candidate-specific injury.
Both lawsuits challenge a state statute implemented after voters approved Proposition 108, a 2016 ballot measure that allows voters not registered with a political party to choose to vote in either major party’s partisan primary elections. Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold, both Democrats, are named as defendants.
The new lawsuit argues that state law burdens the “the associational rights” of political parties, affiliated members and candidates within the parties, and dilutes the voting strength of affiliated voters.
The suit claims Hanks himself has suffered because of unaffiliated voter participation in Republican primaries, arguing that he would have won a June 2022 U.S. Senate primary against candidate Joe O’Dea if only Republican voters had participated.
In a statement, Polis spokesperson Eric Maruyama says it’s concerning that candidates are trying to exclude voters from participating in elections.
According to Griswold, the Republican Party’s similar effort failed in federal court, so she expects this lawsuit will fail, too. “The content of the June Primary Ballot is certified, and Unaffiliated voters should be able to make their voices heard in accordance with Colorado law,” she says in a statement.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for May 14. County clerks can begin giving mail ballots to eligible voters who request one from their office starting on May
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