This bill will be of particular interest to residents of the following counties: Adams, Boulder, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld. We are disappointed to report that this bill failed in the State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs House Committee by a 5-6 vote on March 3rd, when all 3 GOP committee members and 3 Democrats voted against it. Bob anticipates reintroducing this bill in the next session.
The links at the bottom of this page will make it easy to find contact information for your representatives.
House Bill #25-1265
CONCERNING THE MODIFICATION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER ELECTIONS IN COUNTIES WITH POPULATIONS OF TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND OR MORE, AND, IN CONNECTION HEREWITH, REQUIRING SUCH COUNTIES TO HAVE FIVE COMMISSIONERS, ALL OF WHOM ARE ELECTED ONLY BY VOTERS RESIDENT IN THE DISTRICT FROM WHICH THE COMMISSIONER RUNS FOR ELECTION OR BY PROPORTIONAL RANKED CHOICE VOTING.
A note from the Colorado Forward Party Legislative Subcommittee:
We believe this legislation will significantly enhance representative governance. Currently, in counties with only three Commissioners, two individuals can easily make all decisions with limited input. Additionally, the Colorado Forward Party strongly advocates for election reform and believes that proportional RCV representation offers a better chance for diversity of thought within the legislative body, resulting in better legislative outcomes.
Wendy Petry - Colorado Forward Party Legislative Committee Chair
A note from CO FWD affiliate Bob Marshall HD43, who authored this legislation:
"At-large" elections have a notorious history. They always exclude a political minority from participation in government, no matter who that minority may be. At the start of the American Republic, half the states elected their congressional delegations "at-large". The inherent issues with "at-large" election formats led Congress in 1842 to direct that all congressional delegations must be elected through the districts we know today (over the objections of "states' rights" and "local control" from defenders of the status quo). After the Civil War, "at-large" elections became normalized in local elections throughout the South and Mid-West to exclude racial political minorities. In the 1980s, the Department of Justice virtually wiped them out nationwide under the Voting Rights Act. Colorado escaped scrutiny at that time as we did not have a discrete racial minority being excluded from local government at that time to sustain a legal action. But these issues are now beginning to show up again in some counties. The problem does not just go to racial minorities but also political interests. The NW suburbs of Douglas County generally have no voice for their suburban interests, just as the western mountain areas of JEFFCO are excluded along with the more rural Eastern Boulder County.
In 1904, Colorado set in its Constitution that counties below 70,000 residents would have three commissioners, and counties above 70,000 residents could choose to have more. At that time, only one county had more than 70,000 residents. Thirty years later, there was still only one county that had more than 70,000 residents. Had the drafters known that there would eventually be counties with 600,000 residents (more than half the states when Congress directed district elections for Congress), and $1B budgets with just two commissioners running elected "at-large", they would have very likely directed that at some point the change must be made and not just continue to use the same exclusionary political structures that might work for a generally homogenous county of 10,000, but not for large diverse counties of 500,000+ one hundred twenty years later.
To support this legislation, please write to or call your representatives. The Commissioners will share their support or opposition with their State House Reps and Senators. House Reps have the first opportunity to vote on the legislation. Once passed in the House, the Senate will then vote. -- Your voice matters!!
Find My Legislator | Colorado General Assembly
Contact Information for all Legislators
County Commissioners in the most impacted counties.
Adams, Boulder, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer, Mesa, Pueblo, Weld
