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Denver Post
NO: Let's level the playing field
Sunday, September 29, 2002 - Colorado's caucuses used to be lively, rock 'em, sock 'em events.
During the 1980s, I used to walk down to Sherry and Buddy Wolff's house to grapple with a living room full of neighbors, all debating political questions and vying for a spot at the county assembly. In the good old days, lots of friends and neighbors determined whose names appeared on our primary ballots. But today, 99.5 percent of Colorado Republicans and Democrats have no voice in that very crucial process. Today's caucuses and assemblies are poorly attended, yet that tiny fraction of party insiders wields immense power. They are basically coronating the candidates who will represent all of us in the legislature. If you're among the many voters who complain that the statehouse is unresponsive to typical Coloradans, look no further than our convoluted, antiquated caucus system, which is used in only a handful of other states. Yet all Colorado taxpayers foot the bill for our elections and should have a strong voice in who appears on the ballot. In last month's Republican and Democratic primaries there were a possible 164 legislative "races." However, the current system gave voters choices in only 17 of those. No wonder only 14 percent of Republicans and Democrats bothered to show up at the primary election: The vast majority of the real elections had already occurred. Voting "yes" on Amendment 29 will provide a uniform playing field for candidates. All candidates will actually go to the voters to gather signatures to petition onto the ballot. Right now, candidates who attempt to skip the caucus process and petition into the primary face long odds. The number of signatures required is too high, and the time allotted to gather signatures in many cases is too short. And even if petitioners succeed, they're treated by the law as second-class citizens, appearing on the ballot below the names of even the most marginal candidates to come out of the caucus process. By voting "yes" on Amendment 29, you'll level the playing field for all candidates and expand the time frame for circulating petitions. And the order of names on the primary ballot will be determined by lot, giving everyone a fair shot at top billing rather than playing favorites with those designated by the caucus process. Why don't most states use the caucus system? It serves the agenda of an exclusive club of party operatives and special interests who like to call the shots and prefer that the public remains in the dark about how it all works. You can break that chokehold. Amendment 29 will let typical Democrats and Republicans, not just the elites, decide who appears on the primary ballot. It will open the field to competition. It's a small step toward giving politics back to the people. A "yes" vote on Amendment 29 in November will give Coloradans more real choices on the primary ballot, which will lead to a more responsive legislature. Let's modernize a system badly in need of repair. Peggy Lamm is director of governmental affairs with the Bighorn Center for Public Policy.
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