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Fort Collins to Debut Ranked Choice Voting in November Election
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Fort Collins to Debut Ranked Choice Voting in November Election

By: Maggie Bryan | Denver7 Denver7 is taking your questions and concerns about ranked choice voting to the Fort Collins city clerk and the Larimer County clerk. FORT COLLINS, Colo. — For the first time, Fort Collins voters will use ranked choice voting to elect a mayor and city council members during November's election. Fort Collins voters approved the switch to the new voting method in 2022 with 58% of the vote. For the past few years, local election officials have been working to educate people on ranked choice voting, which allows people to rank candidates in order of preference instead of voting for one person. Ranked choice voting has faced criticism for being too complicated for voters in a climate where it's already difficult to get people to vote in local elections. ...
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Google Promises Free Speech After Years of Political Censorship on YouTube
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Breitbart, Approved, National

Google Promises Free Speech After Years of Political Censorship on YouTube

By Sean Moran | Breitbart Google on Tuesday promised to restore YouTube accounts that have been banned for political speech, admitting that the Biden administration pressured it to censor Americans that did not violate the company’s terms of service, in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). “Reflecting the Company’s commitment to free expression, YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” a lawyer representing Google wrote to Jordan. The letter would likely affect pro-Trump political commentators such as White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka, War Room host Steve Bannon,...
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Summer testing shows Google Gmail sent GOP donation emails to spam while ActBlue delivered
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New York Post, Approved, National

Summer testing shows Google Gmail sent GOP donation emails to spam while ActBlue delivered

By Thomas Barrabi | New York Post Google is at it again — and GOP campaign donations could be a casualty. The search giant has been caught this summer flagging Republican fundraising emails as “dangerous” spam — keeping them from hitting gmail users’ inboxes — while leaving similar solicitations from Democrats untouched, a consulting firm warned. That’s despite repeatedly sparking headlines and lawsuits in recent years over the allegedly partisan practice. Last year, a federal judge tossed a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee that complained of biased email filtering. In 2023, the Federal Election Commission dismissed an RNC complaint alleging discrimination in Gmail’s spam filters. Nonetheless, Targeted Victory – whose clients include the National Republican...
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Colorado Springs leaders weigh in as pastors’ political speech could expand
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The Gazette, Approved, Local

Colorado Springs leaders weigh in as pastors’ political speech could expand

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette A recent proposed settlement in a federal court case out of Texas that would change how churches intersect with politics has become what supporters call restoring free speech rights and opponents call breaching the separation of church and state. If the filing by the Internal Revenue Service stands in a 2024 lawsuit that several religious groups brought against the IRS, churches and other houses of worship would be allowed to endorse political candidates from the pulpit during religious services without danger of losing their tax-exempt status. Reactions from pastors and politicians are mixed. The Rev. Steve Holt, founder and senior pastor of The Road Church, a large nondenominational congregation in Colorado Springs, supports the idea and said he...
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60 Years Later: DOJ Expands Grip on Elections Under Voting Rights Banner
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Breitbart, Approved, National

60 Years Later: DOJ Expands Grip on Elections Under Voting Rights Banner

By Jasmyn Jordan | BREITBART On the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, under the leadership of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, reaffirmed its commitment to enforcing federal voting laws and protecting ballot access for all Americans. In a video posted Wednesday on X, Dhillon stated the DOJ is “not just marking history” but actively “enforcing the law.” The post highlighted several current initiatives, including: Investigating violations of federal voting laws. Ensuring all 50 states maintain accurate voter rolls. Challenging efforts to suppress or dilute the vote. Suing jurisdictions where ineligible voters remain on the rolls. Reviewing redistricting plans for evidence of racial g...
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Denver City Council considering plan to fix voter disconnect in at-large races
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Denver City Council considering plan to fix voter disconnect in at-large races

By Deborah Grigsby | Denver Gazette Citing concerns of voter confusion and wasted votes, five Denver City Council members are proposing the city change how it elects its two citywide at-large council seats by splitting them into two separate races. They say the move will also increase voter participation. Currently, the at-large members are elected on a single ballot, with the top two vote-getters declared the winners, District 2 Councilmember Kevin Flynn said. Every elected official in Denver, except for the at-large candidates, must be elected by greater than 50% of the vote, city officials said during Monday’s City Budget and Policy Committee meeting. However, since 1991, nearly a third of votes in the at-large races have been left blank, more than 12 times the amount of ...
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Tina Peters asks court for relief, feds ask for caution—judge asks why
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Approved, denvergazette.com, National, State

Tina Peters asks court for relief, feds ask for caution—judge asks why

By Michael Karlik | Denver Gazette A federal judge on Tuesday struggled to understand why the United States government is claiming an "interest" in a relatively narrow issue related to the prosecution and conviction of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters. Although the government now alleges Peters' state criminal case may have been politically motivated, the U.S. Department of Justice's attorney would not say what evidence, if any, the department has to that effect. When the federal government files a statement asserting it has an interest in a case, "the typical situation is, 'We have an interest, judge, that you may not know about and we want you to be aware of it,'" said Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak during a hearing. "I’m just struggling to see what you all br...
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Epp: Shake Ups at CDoS — Is a Perkins Coie Alum Now Running CO Elections?
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Approved, Colorado Free Press, Commentary, Top Stories

Epp: Shake Ups at CDoS — Is a Perkins Coie Alum Now Running CO Elections?

By Ashe Epp | Colorado Free Press On Wednesday, the Secretary of State issued a much anticipated response to President Trump’s Election Integrity EO. Jena hasn’t posted on X since November, and the department has been quiet — hence the “much anticipated” billing. The release fell flat. But the header information is news. The Deputy Secretary of State is listed as Andrew Kline. What happened to Christopher Perry Beall? There has been no official announcement that (former?) Deputy Secretary Christopher Perry Beall left the Department. It’s an explosive development.  Colorado Free Press spoke to a county clerk that confirmed, “[He] told us Monday he took a five week sabbatical. He said he used to work for Phil Weiser, and he was going to go back to being a l...
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Unions introduce ballot measure to require employers prove ‘just cause’ to fire workers
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Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

Unions introduce ballot measure to require employers prove ‘just cause’ to fire workers

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Colorado’s labor battles escalated significantly on Friday, as the state’s largest unions filed a ballot initiative that would require private-sector employers to prove just cause before they could suspend or fire any workers. The filing of Initiative 43 follows the Feb. 19 decision by Colorado’s title board to approve the wording of a proposed 2026 ballot initiative from the Independence Institute that would ask voters if they would like to make Colorado a right-to-work state. And both are moving while a bill to upend Colorado’s unionization-governing Labor Peace Act has passed the Senate and is scheduled for its first House committee hearing on Thursday. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE SUM & SUBSTANCE
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Former City Councilman argues for greater transparency in Grand Junction’s election filing process
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Former City Councilman argues for greater transparency in Grand Junction’s election filing process

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Three days. That’s all the time a Grand Junction resident has to challenge a candidate’s petition. But there’s one problem: the public doesn’t even know when the clock starts ticking. The City of Grand Junction claims that residents can challenge election petitions, yet the necessary documents aren’t posted publicly and CORA requests take as long as the objection window itself.  Former Grand Junction City Councilman Kraig Andrews learned this firsthand after reading a Rocky Mountain Voice article that included redacted candidate filing petitions.  With his experience in local government and an eye for detail, Andrews noticed discrepancies that raised concerns about how the city reviews and certifies election ...
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