The 2020 Election Results and a Light at the End of the Pandemic Tunnel

The Colorado legislative session usually concludes in May, but a January pandemic hiatus has pushed the session into June. Meanwhile, mask mandates have been lifted in many locations and some lucky vaccinated people will win big bucks in various state lotteries.

In November the delayed (and then contested) presidential results may have distracted people from the ballot measure election results. Every local measure passed and all but the anti-abortion Prop 115 measure received a majority of Yes votes. However, Amendment C to ease regulations on nonprofits engaged in gaming came up shy of the 55% needed to pass a constitutional amendment. Prop 114 to reintroduce gray wolves had the closest result, with Yes and No separated by less than 2 percentage points.

In response to the contested presidential results, many bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country. The ideas in these election integrity bills (according to the supporters) or voter suppression bills (according to the opponents) are also being crafted into initiatives that could end up on ballots. At the federal level, H.R.1/S.1 For the People Act and the not-yet-introduced John Lewis Voting Rights Act would override many of the state efforts.