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When was the last time you heard Democratic Party politicians publicly brag about their successful efforts to keep independent candidates off the ballot? Probably never.
They lie. They deceive people about what they are doing and why.
Colorado State Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg (D-Boulder) says that “everyone should have a seat at the table.” He carried Senate Bill 21-250 to keep independent presidential candidates off Colorado’s ballot after he was the Senate sponsor for former state Representative Susan Lontine‘s House Bill 19-1278, known as the “Colorado Votes Act.” Section 19 of the Colorado Votes Act vastly increased petition signature requirements to keep independent candidates off the ballot for Congressional, state and county offices. Two words in Section 83 on the 63rd page of SB 21-250 repealed the filing fee option for independent presidential candidates without anyone noticing. There was zero media coverage of this corrupt maneuver to keep independent presidential candidates off Colorado’s ballot.
Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold boasts about Colorado’s “gold standard” election system. Griswold says she wants “everyone’s voice to be heard, including unaffiliated voters.” Yet she helped draft and lobbied for legislation to suppress unaffiliated candidates.
Extreme ballot access restrictions were hidden in long, broad “election reform” bills. Corrupt Democratic Party politicians, so-called “progressive” groups and a complicit media promoted minor “reforms” in these bills while saying nothing about the poison pills hidden in the legislation.
They can’t fool all of the people all of the time, but they can fool enough of the people enough of the time to maintain their control over an illegitimate political system.
Now,state Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer (R-Weld, Larimer counties) has introduced SB 23-101, which would effectively kill all minor political parties in Colorado. This bill would eliminate the ability of any political party to nominate candidates by assembly; candidates of any affiliation would be required to run burdensome petition drives for ballot access. High petition signature requirements ensure that only political campaigns backed by big money can get off the ground.
The bill is scheduled for a State Affairs Committee hearing on February 16. It should be killed in committee.
The U.S. generally has some of the world’s most restrictive ballot access laws, but from 1997 until 2019, Colorado had some of the best independent and minor party ballot access laws of any state. This was the result of lobbying efforts by a coalition of eight alternative political parties.
Both the Democrats and Republicans are determined to exclude independent voices from Colorado’s fool’s gold standard of a sham election system.
Fundamental election reform is critical. The most essential reform would be to institute a Hybrid Proportional Representation voting system to elect Colorado’s General Assembly, as proposed by the election reform group Best Democracy. This system would combine a ranked single transferable vote in seven member districts with a compensatory party list system. It would empower nearly all voters to elect representatives of their choice. (Find full details here.)
Ballot access requirements should be vastly reduced. I suggest giving candidates the option of either submitting a reasonable number of petition signatures or paying a nominal fee for ballot access. The existing option of nomination by party assembly should also be continued.
I propose the following ballot access options for candidates of any affiliation:
Presidential tickets: 1,000 petition signatures or $1,000.
Statewide offices: 500 signatures or $500.
Congressional Districts: 200 signatures or $200.
General Assembly, District Attorney: 50 signatures or $50
County offices: The lesser of 50 signatures or 2% of the last vote cast for the office; or $50.
Everyone should have fair representation in government.
Gary Swing is a spokesperson for Best Democracy; he ran for Colorado Secretary of State as a member of the Unity Party in 2022.
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