Shawn Griffiths
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
A poll commissioned by Colorado Voters First shows that a clear majority (56%) of likely voters in Colorado will or probably will support Proposition 131, a measure that would implement a nonpartisan Top 4 primary with ranked choice voting in the general election.
Further, an additional 8% of voters said they were leaning toward “Yes.”
Generally speaking, this is a positive sign going into November for a ballot measure campaign, especially as 23% of poll respondents said they were undecided, leaving only 21% who said they would not or probably would not vote for the measure.
It should be noted that Colorado Voters First is the campaign spearheading the nonpartisan reform. They commissioned the poll from Keating Research, who surveyed 400 voters by phone and 400 voters online.
The stated margin of error for the poll is 3.5%. The party affiliation breakdown of the poll was 44% unaffiliated, 29% Democratic, and 26% Republican – which mostly mirrors voter registration in Colorado.
The poll is not the only good news for reformers. The measure also received the public endorsement of Governor Jared Polis, who specifically notes that he believes ranked choice voting “is better than our current system because it gives voters more choices.”
“I’m hopeful that if it passes it will encourage participation and improve our democracy. I will be voting YES ON Proposition 131,” said Polis.
To quickly recap: Under a nonpartisan top 4 primary system, all voters and candidates participate on a single ballot – regardless of party – and the top 4 vote-getters move on to the general election.
Under ranked choice voting, voters have the option to rank candidates in order of preference (1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice). If no candidate gets over 50% of first choice selections, the last place candidate is eliminated, and their voters’ next choices are applied to the results.
Additional rounds of elimination are conducted if needed until a single candidate has over 50% of the vote.
Colorado Voters First was started by former DaVita CEO and election reform advocate Kent Thiry. Thiry is no stranger to reform in Colorado and has pushed some of the biggest changes to how voters elect public officials, including the adoption of open partisan primaries.
Thiry has put up more than $1.4 million to support the effort as of September 11. Further, the nonpartisan Denver-based reform group, Unite America, reportedly contributed $4.7 million to Colorado Voters First.
In total, the committee has raised $8.4 million as of September 11, which has allowed it to commit millions of dollars to statewide ads.
Prop. 131 was designed for implementation in 2026. If passed, it will reform elections for several statewide offices, including governor, as well as Congress. However, the Colorado Legislature approved a last-minute roadblock before the end of its most recent session that will delay implementation.
SB 24-210 was introduced to make sweeping administrative changes to elections backed by county officials. Right before the end of session, however, the bill’s author – Rep. Emily Sirota – amended it to halt reform implementation before Prop. 131 was even certified for the ballot.
The bill, which Governor Polis signed into law, stipulates that Colorado cannot adopt ranked choice voting statewide until a dozen municipalities that meet specific demographic requirements adopt and use it and then the state has to publish a report on its use.
Further, the state cannot adopt nonpartisan primaries until the ranked choice voting requirements are met. Sirota snuck in the changes to her bill without floor debate or public input.
Polis criticized the process used to pass the amended bill saying the changes were “included at the last moment and without proper stakeholding.” However, he also assured voters that SB 24-210 would not be the final word on reform implementation.
He reportedly believes that, if passed, Prop. 131 could be implemented as early as 2028 – but at the moment there is no guarantee. Its future may depend on how much support is shown for it on Election Day, and how strong a message voters send to state lawmakers.