As I type these words on the Thursday morning after the election, the White House winner is still in doubt. It appears that Joe Biden is in a better place to win than is President Trump, but things are still far too close for anyone to be overly boastful. But a few things are already clear regarding our recent plebiscite, and they nearly all reflect well upon the good people of Colorado. Simply put, when it comes to democracy, Colorado rocks. Centennial State voters turned out in record numbers and we should be proud of that, regardless of for whom we voted.

Way back in 1792 when George Washington ran for a second term as president (I was about to say “for the White House,” but Washington is the only president to never actually live in the White House, as it didn’t exist yet) he was unanimously reelected by the Electoral College of that year, which is an impressive result that has never been equaled. But as it turns out, only about 28,000 men actually voted in that election, resulting in only a 6.3% “turnout,” if you want to call it that. We did not cross the national 50% turnout level until 1828, when Andrew Jackson swept into the White House (built by then) after narrowly – and suspiciously – losing the election four years earlier. The all-time high for voter turnout was 1876 (and not just because Colorado became a state that year), when over 82% of eligible voters cast ballots. Turnout rates dropped across the 20th century, with turnout rates hovering in the high 50%’s to a bit over 60%.

So let me just say huzzah for Colorado in 2020, and let me point you to a Colorado Politics article that shows off what good voters we are.

During a national pandemic which has ravaged our national health as well as far too much of our spirit, the good people of Colorado voted (by mail mostly) at an astonishingly good rate. Just under 80% of those eligible voted, which is up 4% from just four years ago. Colorado only trails Minnesota and New Hampshire in turnout, and that is an exceptionally good thing.

As a moderate (an increasingly rare designation) I am mostly happy with the way things turned out regarding our state ballot issues. And while I continue to be opposed philosophically to the idea of putting lots of issues on the ballot for people to vote on (rather than have the elected legislature take care of, well, legislating), I do think that in 2020 the folks here decided things pretty well.

We saw yet another abortion ban effort fail, though I suspect we will be voting on this idea pretty regularly until the new Trump, I mean U.S. Supreme Court, overturns Roe v Wade, but I digress… I am very pleased to see that we voted strongly (57%) to undo Amendment B and that we voted even more overwhelmingly (67%) to tax vape pens and such. 

But I am especially happy to see that Prop 113 – the national popular vote referendum – passed. Frankly, I did not think it would, but Colorado voters showed in this vote that they care more about the nation as a whole than for the pettier states’ rights claims. If only we had that law in effect nationally now, the guy with millions more votes would already have been declared the president-elect, but I, yet again, digress…

Our citizens showed they have a heart in voting through the paid family and medical leave proposal, which will mean a bit more in taxes for Colradans but increased financial security for our fellow citizens in times of great crisis. I’m reminded that several years ago when the then-CEO of Papa Johns declared that if he was forced to give his employees health care (under Obamacare) he’d be forced to raise the price of each pizza sold by – brace yourself – 11 to 14 cents. A whole lot of people said they would happily pay, heck, even a quarter more per pizza to help their fellow Americans. Colorado, in voting in favor of family leave, showed we have a bigger heart than lots and lots of people (cough…GOP leadership…cough) that want to cut health care.

We are still not sure of the outcome on the wolves’ issue, and that may match the way experts feel about the reintroduction question itself. I voted in favor of reintroduction, but I must admit that there are reasonable arguments on the other side. It is too bad the legislature did not study the issue carefully and pass an actual law, but such are the times we live in.

We here in Colorado should be rightly proud of our participatory democracy. Regardless of your partisanship, you should find some satisfaction in the simple fact that our mail in ballot system worked great, and that as a result, we had a massive level of citizen involvement in choosing the way forward for our communities, state, and nation. Good job Colorado and keep it up! We’ll have this talk again in two years. 

Oh, didn’t you notice? The 2022 election season has started…