When you open your ballot, you’ll see Proposition 131, asking voters to establish an all-candidate Primary Election and ranked-choice voting in General Elections. This week, the Board of Douglas County Commissioners voted 2-1 to adopt a resolution opposing Proposition 131, asking you to vote no.
Commissioners George Teal and Lora Thomas noted that Proposition 131 would significantly change how Colorado’s primary and general elections are conducted for many offices including U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, Colorado University Board of Regents, state board of education and state legislature.
With the changes outlined in Proposition 131, candidates would no longer have to win their party’s primary. Instead, primary elections would determine the most popular candidates for the entire electorate — with all candidates, from all parties, competing for support from all voters.
In the general election, Proposition 131 would move Colorado to “ranked-choice” voting. Voters would assign candidates a rank, one to four, in order of preference. To determine the winner, election officials would first count all the top choices. If one candidate is the top choice of a majority of voters, that candidate wins. If there is no majority winner from voters’ top choices, a second round of counting begins.
“Proposition 131 would add a lot of complexity that we don’t want,” said Commissioner Teal. “We want to have our vote cast. We want to vote for who we want to vote for, and it’s the expectation that that individual will either win or lose. We don’t settle for anything less than the best. Ranked-choice voting runs contrary to the American mindset.”
“There is a lot of confusion around ranked-choice voting and what’s called ‘jungle primaries,’” said Commissioner Thomas. “There are 10 states that have already banned ranked-choice voting. It’s already failed in other places. Proposition 131 opposes the way we have voted for years. Changing it would not be a benefit to residents.”
Commissioners noted that Alaska, which recently adopted an electoral concept and process quite similar to Proposition 131, is seeking a rescission by placing an initiative on the ballot to abandon open primaries and ranked-choice voting and return to the traditional election process.
Commissioner Abe Laydon is in support of Proposition 131 and voted in opposition to the resolution.