Election Day is closing in, and Coloradans have a lot of decisions to make. So if you haven’t turned in your ballot just yet, here’s a quick recap to get you started — and some advice on what to do if you get stuck.
First, Proposition 131. Two weeks ago I covered 131 and came to the frustrating conclusion that there’s no great answer. If you vote no, we will keep a solid election system but still have a problem with money in politics. If you support 131, we might improve our election system, but we will still have a problem with money in politics. In short, there’s no perfect choice. So vote your gut, and good luck persuading the wealthy financiers and supporters of the measure — including Gov. Jared Polis, Kent Thiry and Sen. John Hickenlooper — to invest in solving the real issue in politics: money.
Next, Propositions 127, KK and Amendment 80. These include eliminating trophy hunting of Colorado’s Big Cats, new taxes on gun purchases and whether private schools should be entitled to taxpayer dollars. All are questions of value, with a quick yes, yes and no.
Two of the remaining ballot measures are also value-based. Amendment J would protect the right of same-sex couples to marry, and Amendment 79 would protect the right to abortion. Both are critical for Coloradans to protect at home given the Republican candidate for president seeks to upend such rights on the national stage.
Proposition 128 is another measure worth noting as it’s a far-right effort based on fear. On the one hand, we all value public safety. But how we achieve public safety matters, and I sincerely doubt that spending tens of millions more in taxpayer dollars to mandate longer prison terms on the order of months for all violent crime offenders — including those the State Board of Parole deems suited to early release through earned time reductions — is the best solution. I therefore oppose 128 with hopes of supporting a future bipartisan reentry effort instead.
Proposition 129 is another imperfect choice. The highly controversial measure puts pet lovers in a difficult position. Do we trust two new bills this year to help assuage the veterinary shortage in time, especially in rural areas? Or is the animal doctor shortage so dire that expediting a virtually trained mid-level position is worth the risk? Here again, the problem is real and the solution is questionable. For what it’s worth, most of the veterinarians I know are against it.
But what about the remaining statewide ballot measures? There are many, and they’re important, too. As are local judges and other issues depending on which part of the state you live in. Colorado’s Blue Book is 110 pages long this election cycle, and it still doesn’t cover everything voters need to know. Should voting really be this complicated?
Yes, completing our civic duty is important. But how many hours do we expect the average voter to spend learning the ins and outs of veterinary licensing or judicial disciplinary procedures? More importantly, given the excessive length and short attention spans, how many people might not vote at all because the ballot is too overwhelming?
This leads me to an unexpected, but perhaps necessary, conclusion for this year’s ballot. By all means, please vote. Start with picking candidates for office, and put in the most effort to choose people who will represent you.
Then, if you have the luxury of spending hours on all 14 of Colorado’s complex ballot initiatives, please do so. There are important questions and your voice matters.
However, if at any point you find yourself in a position where voting starts to feel so overwhelming that you risk not doing it at all, vote on what you know and leave the rest blank. Nothing says you have to vote on everything, and I’d rather people vote on some things than no things — especially in a contentious presidential election year.
So whatever you do, don’t let not voting be the solution to an overwhelming ballot. Vote, even if just a little.
Trish Zornio is a scientist, lecturer and writer who has worked at some of the nation’s top universities and hospitals. She’s an avid rock climber and was a 2020 candidate for the U.S. Senate in Colorado.
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