Prop 107 would reinstitute a presidential primary for the major political parties and allow unaffiliated voters to vote in it without affiliating with a party. The presidential primary would be held no later than the third Tuesday in March, long before the primary election for other offices. No other race or issue could be on the ballot with the presidential contest. (There is a companion Prop 108 on the ballot this year that applies to the June primary elections for all offices other than US president.)
All the Colorado delegates to the national convention would be required to support the winner of the state’s presidential primary, rather than the current process of allotting delegates proportionally. The state party’s chair could request that “uncommitted” – exact wording not specified in the text – be a candidate on the ballot.
If there is only one candidate for president for a political party 60 days before an election, the Secretary of State may cancel that party’s presidential primary. In presidential election years, precinct caucuses for other races, for the party platform and for beginning the process of choosing national convention delegates would be held the Saturday after the presidential primary election.
States proportion delegates to the national party presidential conventions based on either a state’s presidential primary or on the caucus and state convention process. In Colorado, not only do we allow election-day voter registration, but unaffiliated voters can choose to affiliate with a party on primary election day and vote that party’s ballot. Caucuses, however, require affiliation with a party two months prior to the caucus.
A presidential primary election allows for more participation than a caucus mostly because we have a mail ballot in Colorado. At a voter’s convenience within the multi-week voting period, the voter fills in the ballot. For primary elections, only voters affiliated with a political party receive a ballot for their party’s candidates. Under Prop 107 unaffiliated voters would receive a single combined ballot and could choose to vote in any major party’s presidential primary, but only for one. If the elector fills in more than one party’s ballot, the entire ballot would be invalidated.
Recommendation: leaning no/against
I’m in favor of a presidential primary if that is what Colorado wants, and the taxpayers are willing to pay for it. Allowing unaffiliated voters to participate also increases Colorado’s voice in the national debate.
However, I’m not pleased with the winner-take-all system. We already have that system when the general election rolls around. I want more voices to be heard during the primary.
People argue that a winner-take-all state gets more attention from the candidates, but it also favors the unique candidate who may not be widely acceptable. This system in South Carolina, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, and Arizona helped Trump win a lot of delegates early on despite not winning a majority of Republican primary votes in any of those states. The only other winner-take-all Republican primary state through March 15th was Ohio, won by Ohio Governor Kasich with 46% of the primary vote.
For me, the winner-take-all system is enough reason to reject Prop 107. Since this would be a statutory change, the General Assembly could decide to change from a winner-take-all system to a more proportional system.
If the point of Prop 107 is to engage unaffiliated voters, I’d like to see the single combined ballot contain all parties running a presidential candidate in Colorado, including Green, American Constitution Party, etc ., not just the parties with contested races. Let unaffiliated voters see all the candidate choices. Third parties could use the visibility.
When there is only one major party holding a contested race and the parties alternate this status, such as in 1992 or 1996, it will be more even more attractive to be an unaffiliated voter so that you can easily voice your opinion in whichever race is contested. With fewer affiliated voters, we risk losing the energy of political parties and the voice of the people in helping to form party platform positions on topics such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and abortion. Platforms are not determined at election time. They are determined through months of discussions and grassroots activism.
Website for the Yes Side (Let Colorado Vote)
http://www.letcovote2016.com/
Website for the No Side
No known website – Info on an opposition website appreciated.
Approved Ballot Language
Proposition 107 (STATUTORY)
Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes recreating a presidential primary election to be held before the end of March in each presidential election year in which unaffiliated electors may vote without declaring an affiliation with a political party?
YES/FOR _______
NO/AGAINST _________
Proposition 107 initiative language filed with the Secretary of State
http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/filings/2015-2016/140Final.pdf
All the Colorado delegates to the national convention would be required to support the winner of the state’s presidential primary, rather than the current process of allotting delegates proportionally. The state party’s chair could request that “uncommitted” – exact wording not specified in the text – be a candidate on the ballot.
If there is only one candidate for president for a political party 60 days before an election, the Secretary of State may cancel that party’s presidential primary. In presidential election years, precinct caucuses for other races, for the party platform and for beginning the process of choosing national convention delegates would be held the Saturday after the presidential primary election.
States proportion delegates to the national party presidential conventions based on either a state’s presidential primary or on the caucus and state convention process. In Colorado, not only do we allow election-day voter registration, but unaffiliated voters can choose to affiliate with a party on primary election day and vote that party’s ballot. Caucuses, however, require affiliation with a party two months prior to the caucus.
A presidential primary election allows for more participation than a caucus mostly because we have a mail ballot in Colorado. At a voter’s convenience within the multi-week voting period, the voter fills in the ballot. For primary elections, only voters affiliated with a political party receive a ballot for their party’s candidates. Under Prop 107 unaffiliated voters would receive a single combined ballot and could choose to vote in any major party’s presidential primary, but only for one. If the elector fills in more than one party’s ballot, the entire ballot would be invalidated.
Recommendation: leaning no/against
I’m in favor of a presidential primary if that is what Colorado wants, and the taxpayers are willing to pay for it. Allowing unaffiliated voters to participate also increases Colorado’s voice in the national debate.
However, I’m not pleased with the winner-take-all system. We already have that system when the general election rolls around. I want more voices to be heard during the primary.
People argue that a winner-take-all state gets more attention from the candidates, but it also favors the unique candidate who may not be widely acceptable. This system in South Carolina, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, and Arizona helped Trump win a lot of delegates early on despite not winning a majority of Republican primary votes in any of those states. The only other winner-take-all Republican primary state through March 15th was Ohio, won by Ohio Governor Kasich with 46% of the primary vote.
For me, the winner-take-all system is enough reason to reject Prop 107. Since this would be a statutory change, the General Assembly could decide to change from a winner-take-all system to a more proportional system.
If the point of Prop 107 is to engage unaffiliated voters, I’d like to see the single combined ballot contain all parties running a presidential candidate in Colorado, including Green, American Constitution Party, etc ., not just the parties with contested races. Let unaffiliated voters see all the candidate choices. Third parties could use the visibility.
When there is only one major party holding a contested race and the parties alternate this status, such as in 1992 or 1996, it will be more even more attractive to be an unaffiliated voter so that you can easily voice your opinion in whichever race is contested. With fewer affiliated voters, we risk losing the energy of political parties and the voice of the people in helping to form party platform positions on topics such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and abortion. Platforms are not determined at election time. They are determined through months of discussions and grassroots activism.
Website for the Yes Side (Let Colorado Vote)
http://www.letcovote2016.com/
Website for the No Side
No known website – Info on an opposition website appreciated.
Approved Ballot Language
Proposition 107 (STATUTORY)
Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes recreating a presidential primary election to be held before the end of March in each presidential election year in which unaffiliated electors may vote without declaring an affiliation with a political party?
YES/FOR _______
NO/AGAINST _________
Proposition 107 initiative language filed with the Secretary of State
http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/filings/2015-2016/140Final.pdf
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