DENVER – A pair of organizations which represent independent voters that sought a veto of a bill designed to codify Propositions 107 and 108, which were approved by voters in November, say they’re looking at other ways to overturn the legislation.
The propositions allow for unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in primaries for presidential candidates and state elected offices, respectively.
To enact the propositions, Senate Bill 305 was passed by the Legislature and signed into law last week by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
The Coalition of Independent Voters in Colorado, CIVIC, and Independent Voting, a national association of independent voters, opposed SB 305, saying it went against the will of voters by requiring public disclosure of which primary an unaffiliated voter casts a ballot.
Gwen Ballard, founder of CIVIC and resident of Carbondale, said the disclosure could be used by the parties to track and target individuals for political recruitment.
“We don’t want to affiliate and this kind of forces at least a de facto affiliation,” Ballard said.
Now that the bill has been signed by the governor, Ballard said her organization is looking into what recourse is open to it to protect privacy of independent voters.
One option is a referred petition that would take the implementation of SB 305 to a vote of the people, but that might be out of reach, Ballard said.
“We’d have to get something in excess of 90,000 signatures here in the next two months.”
Ballard said CIVIC and Independent Voting are reaching out to privacy advocates to explore what other options are open.
Ballard added that if a petition did make the ballot, she believed Coloradans would reverse the actions of the Legislature.
“We are very convinced if this were put to a vote of the people of Colorado, it would pass by a large margin,” she said.
lperkins@durangoherald.com
