Editor:

Colorado has outgrown the caucus.

There are only nine other states that employ this archaic system. The caucus is a process in which registered voters of a certain party meet. Generally it’s held on a Tuesday night in February or March to elect delegates who, in turn, attend our county and state assemblies to vote on placement of candidates on our ballots. We currently have approximately 1 million registered Republican voters in the state of Colorado. Less than 1 percent of these become delegates, yet they are responsible for electing the candidates who appear on our ballot.The caucus disenfranchises our deployed military, people at home with small children, those that work during that two-hour period, our elderly and infirm. It is an unfunded government mandate placed upon our political parties, which is a tremendous strain on party resources for a return of less than 1 percent.

The caucus brings out the extreme fringe of both parties, and they then are allowed to control the agenda. It’s high time to go to a straight primary ballot, where all Coloradoans are allowed to participate and have their voices heard. Candidates can petition on the ballot relatively easily in Colorado at their own expense and with their own supporters by an organized, pre-planned grass roots effort.

Karon McCormickColorado Springs