By Kevin Lundberg | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
This year’s election is the most polarized political season we have ever seen.
The Colorado ballot questions demonstrate this stark divide, with the political parties taking very different positions on the big decisions the voting citizens of Colorado are facing. Abortion, targeted taxes on firearms and ammo and the definition of marriage in our state constitution are all on our ballot, with both major parties taking opposite views on these critical questions.
But there is one major issue that both parties agree on, Proposition 131 is a very bad idea. This proposition will create a jungle primary and establish a ranked-choice voting system for most general election choices.
The jungle primary puts all candidates in one big, complex primary election. This dangerous policy will essentially eliminate our two-party system of governance. I say this because the main purpose of a political party is to choose their candidate for each elected office in general elections. The jungle primary eliminates this exclusive role for the parties, rendering their main purpose moot.
The major parties will still be allowed to nominate primary candidates, but these candidates will be lumped into an extensive list of all primary candidates, including anyone who petitions onto the ballot, thus hopelessly diluting the significance of a party nominated candidate. With the potential of dozens of candidates on a jungle primary ballot, it is very possible that all of the candidates from one party will not even qualify for the general election.
But wait, there is more. Ranked-choice voting in the general election will disrupt the voting process in a fundamental way that allows more games to be played in our elections and the complexities of the process makes any meaningful audits or recounts virtually impossible. Ranked choice voting is said to guarantee the winner always wins, with more than 50% of the votes. However, that is only accomplished by throwing out the first votes of enough individual ballots to artificially create a majority winner. Judging from jurisdictions who have tried ranked-choice voting, the ultimate winner is often not the winner of the plurality of the votes cast in the first round of counting.
The open primary system put in place in 2016 took away the ability of party members to exclusively pick their candidates in primary elections. This means that a Colorado voter has more choices if they do not affiliate with any political party. Consequently, party membership has dropped precipitously and today nearly twice as many Colorado voters are unaffiliated than members of either major party.
It is no accident that the same wealthy individual who funded the open primary ballot question in 2016 has once again bought his way onto the ballot with Prop. 131. This is his second and most devastating step to destroy the major parties in Colorado. The result of these political maneuvers can be clearly seen.
Diminishing the power of political parties creates a power vacuum that can and will be filled by the rich and powerful. With political parties swept aside, the rich and powerful have a clear path to buy their way into office or buy the candidates of their choice without any meaningful competition from average citizens.
Average citizens can amplify their voice though political parties. This is why political parties developed in the first place. Joining a political party with other like-minded citizens gives individual citizens a place at the table to select those who will represent their interests in government.
This is the essence of our republican form of government, of which every state is guaranteed in Article IV of the Constitution. Taking away the party’s power of selecting candidates for general elections will have the net effect of unconstitutionally stripping away the voices of average citizens from the political process.
A jungle primary, combined with ranked-choice voting is not democratic, it is autocratic.
I am joining with many citizens from both major parties as a strong NO on Proposition 131.
Kevin Lundberg served in the Colorado legislature from 2003-2018. He is currently the executive director of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado and chairman of the Lawsuit Committee for the Colorado GOP, challenging the Colorado Open Primary in federal court.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.