unaffiliated voters
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Q&A: Rep. Tim Dore on being right about open primary voting, frustrations of the Legislature, growing challenges for the state GOP
‘Our party is facing permanent minority status unless we embrace a wider vision’ Two-term state Rep. Tim Dore, a Republican from Elizabeth, was defeated in the party primary last June. He wasn’t surprised. Dore’s feather-ruffling efforts to move hardline Republican caucus members to embrace a “wider vision,” as he put it in an interview this…
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Noonan: Final results show election angst on both sides turns into not much in Colorado
In the grand total of many things political, Democrats did well in Colorado in 2016, going against the fly-over state trend. Even so, at the state level, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Statewide, unaffiliated voters broke toward Democrats at about 4.5 percent. With party registrations in November at almost even…
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Most Colorado voters cast ballots early
More than 2.2 million of Colorado’s nearly 3.3 million registered voters had turned in their mail-in ballots by Election Day, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, with Republican voters slightly ahead of Democratic voters. The early Election Day tally showed Republican voters cast 771,745 ballots, Democratic voters cast 753,052 ballots and unaffiliated, or independent,…
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Lundberg and Lawrence: Editing, approving ‘Blue Book’ a legitimate function of lawmakers
Legendary humorist Mark Twain once said, “A lie can travel halfway round the world before the truth puts its shoes on.” In the Internet Age, a lie can “go viral” before truth can hit the “reply” button. So, it’s doubly important to set the record straight when major media outlets like the Denver Post and…
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Presidential primary concerns aired
The people who would have to do the behind-the-scenes work to make a presidential primary election happen in Colorado four years from now have several concerns and questions about the issue voters will decide this fall. At the Tuesday, Sept. 13, meeting of the Colorado Secretary of State’s Bipartisan Election Advisory Committee, elected state officials,…
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Blake: On the initiatives, just say ‘no’
I love the initiative process in theory. Power to the people! In practice, not so much. At least this year. Like a pianist playing scales, I used to warm up for my biennial ballot concerto by quickly flipping the “no” lever on all the judges up for retention. It not only flexed the fingers, it…
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Noonan: New voters give political parties existential challenges
Colorado’s Republican and Democratic parties face enormous challenges integrating an increase since 2012 of 315,000 active voters into their networks. Current July data show Democrats and Republicans almost even in active voter registration, at 980,352 for Democrats and 988,410 for Republicans. Unaffiliated voters remain the largest group at 1,003,628 active voters. Democrats gained the most…
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Lundberg: Disenfranchised? Are you serious?
Two proposed November ballot initiatives funded by deep pockets in the Denver business sector are making troublesome claims about Colorado having “1.3 million disenfranchised voters.” If true, this is a national civil rights scandal! Who are these alleged victims of discrimination? They are Colorado’s unaffiliated registered voters, the 34 percent of active registered voters who…
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Letter: Put the brakes on problem-riddled primary bill
Editor: The Colorado Senate should admit the obvious and acknowledge that they cannot responsibly pass the Primary Participation Bill this session. Fortunately, the Primary Participation Bill, HB1454, has hit a snag in the House, where it is stalled awaiting more amendments and a final vote before being sent to the Senate. Senate observers report growing…
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Zarlengo: Politicians strike while crisis is hot with presidential primary bill
“Never let a serious crisis go to waste,” as former Barack Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel once quipped. This is especially true when no crisis actually exists and entrenched politicians see the opportunity to solidify a permanent political and consultant class, while masquerading as a pro-democracy populist movement. So is the case with the…