Six years after Democrats reshaped Colorado’s election system by introducing the compulsory mail-in ballot and same-day registration, state lawmakers are taking several more steps with the hope of increasing the number of eligible voters and participation in future elections.
The General Assembly, which after the 2018 election is again controlled by Democrats, is debating at least five different proposals that range from expanding the hours of polling stations to allowing parolees to vote.
“I think making sure that every single person who is legally able to vote has access to a ballot is beneficial to the entire state,” said state Rep. Daneya Esgar, a Pueblo Democrat and sponsor of a bill that would automatically register individuals when they get a driver’s license or apply for the state’s Medicaid services.
Lawmakers have an ally in Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat who ran her campaign on the pledge of expanding voters’ rights. However, many county clerks — the on-the-ground troops charged with running elections — have raised concerns that legislators are trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
Colorado’s voting system is regularly held up as a national model. The state ranks high in registration and turnout in national studies. Griswold praised the clerks for their work, but said Colorado should continue to lead the way in expanding access to voters — especially as other states work to restrict access to the ballot.
“We must continue to innovate and hit the next benchmark,” Griswold said. “We want to be the very best model possible so states like Georgia, North Dakota, can say, ‘Look at what they’re doing in Colorado. We can do the same thing here.’ ”
The biggest proposed legislative changes to Colorado’s elections are in an omnibus bill that would update the state’s election codes. Among the changes being debated are expanding the hours a polling place is open on Election Day, increasing the number of ballot drop boxes and polling places in the state’s largest counties, and requiring county commissioners to discuss putting polling places or drop boxes on the campuses of smaller universities and colleges.
Sponsored by Denver Democratic Rep. Susan Lontine, the legislation would also allow 17-year-olds who will be 18 on Election Day to vote during a summer primary and lift restrictions on how Native Americans list their addresses when registering to vote.
“We have seen a lot of improvement for voters, but there are continued refinements that we want to address before we go into 2020,” Lontine said. “It’s going to be more intense. And we want to be prepared.”
County clerks showed up in force earlier this month to protest the bill at a committee hearing. They said more polling centers and longer hours on Election Day won’t solve wait times, one of the stated goals of the bill. Instead, they argued the state should focus on updating the software counties use at polling stations to either register and update voter information — a process that takes about six minutes per person.
Clerks were also concerned about a $4 million price tag that would have fallen on them. However, after lengthy negotiations, Lontine and her colleagues at the statehouse were able to bring the cost of the bill down to $2 million and will fully fund the bill from the state’s budget. Other amendments made Friday appeared to soften the clerks’ criticism.
Meanwhile, the Senate is working on a bill that would automatically register Coloradans who get their driver’s license or who apply for Medicaid.
It’s unclear how many new voters would be added based off Medicaid enrollment. But currently, about 30,000 Coloradans per month opt out of registering to vote at the DMV, the Secretary of State’s Office said. If the bill becomes law as written, everyone who gets a driver’s license would be registered to vote and would receive a follow-up letter from their county clerk to declare a political party or opt out.
“Young people are the primary beneficiaries of automatic voter registration,” said Lizzy Stephan, executive director of New Era Colorado, a nonprofit that advocates for young voters. “This just streamlines everything and conforms to what voters already expect.”
Colorado Republicans, meanwhile, have raised concern that the proposal may lead to registering non-citizens to vote and removes personal responsibility from voters.
Also making its way through the legislative process is a bill that would allow parolees to vote.
“Giving them their right to vote back is really empowering,” said state Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat. “I don’t think this is a party issue. It’s about getting people to vote.”
According to an ACLU of Colorado estimate, about 10,000 parolees would be eligible to vote if the bill becomes law.
Not every Democratic effort to expand the voting rolls has made it. A bill sponsored by state Rep. James Coleman, a Denver Democrat, that would have dropped the voting age in local school board races to 16 died at the committee level.
Coleman said he sponsored the bill after learning that only 17,000 of the 90,000 eligible voters in his House district participated in the last school board election.
“I want to increase voter turnout for our young people, this being the catalyst for that,” he said. “This makes them engage.”
