Colorado’s voter registration numbers are updated monthly, and, in Grand County, the numbers reflect a significant number of unaffiliated voters. As of April 1, 2018, Grand County has 2,404 registered democrats, 4,292 registered republicans, and, 4,059 unaffiliated voters. In the queue, pre-registered voters (under the age of 18) are at 16 democrats, 36 republicans and 57 unaffiliated voters.
In 2016, Coloradans approved Proposition 108, which allows unaffiliated voters the opportunity to participate in primary elections. Before the Proposition was approved, they had to first affiliate with one party or another.
Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, with the blessing of the legislature, has launched a campaign to let unaffiliated voters know that they can participate and, if they choose, go online (http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/chooseU/choiceHappens.html) and select whether they want to vote a Democratic ballot or a Republican ballot.
While unaffiliated voters don’t have to do this, if they don’t, they will be mailed both ballots, but can only vote and submit on one ballot. The UChooseCO campaign is aimed at informing unaffiliated voters that if they vote both the Democratic ballot and the Republican ballot, neither ballot will count.
The added expense to the County in mailing both ballots does have an impact on the budget, so unaffiliated voters are encouraged to pre-select their choice of ballot for the Upcoming June 26 primary.
Proposition 108 does not change anything for Republican and Democratic voters, who will still receive a primary ballot with their party’s candidates. And as always in November, all voters, regardless of affiliation, can vote for any candidate, regardless of affiliation. And, two years from now, unaffiliated voters can again choose which ballot they want to vote – they don’t have to select the party they picked this year.
