# 2024 Colorado Proposition 131

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2024 Colorado Proposition 131 was a proposed ballot measure that appeared before voters in Colorado during the 2024 general election. The citizen initiated proposition would have replaced Colorado's partisan primaries with non-partisan blanket primaries and would have implemented ranked-choice (instant-runoff) voting for most statewide and state legislative general elections in which the top four candidates in the primary would have qualified for the general election ballot.

## Background

Currently, Colorado uses partisan primaries to select who appears on general election ballots and a first past the post voting system like most US states. Had Proposition 131 passed, Colorado would have switched to a system of blanket primaries and ranked choice general elections. Similar systems were adopted by Maine in 2016 and Alaska in 2020. The proposition was initiated by citizen petition, largely funded by health care executive Kent Thiry. Similar proposals were on the ballot in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon, funded by a network of donors of which Thiry is a part.
In 2024, Governor Jared Polis signed into law Senate Bill 210 which heightened requirements for the adoption of ranked choice voting in Colorado. Specifically, the law requires that at least 12 communities of various required sizes adopt ranked choice voting at a local level before it can be implemented statewide. This made it unclear how quickly ranked choice voting would have been implemented in Colorado had Proposition 131 passed. However, Polis had committed to ensuring ranked choice voting was put into effect by the 2028 election if voters approved the proposition. In addition, Polis endorsed the measure.

## Contents

The proposition will appeared on the ballot as follows:
   Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes creating new election processes for certain federal and state offices, and, in connection therewith, creating a new all-candidate primary election for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, CU board of regents, state board of education, and the Colorado state legislature; allowing voters to vote for any one candidate per office, regardless of the voter’s or candidate’s political party affiliation; providing that the four candidates for each office who receive the most votes advance to the general election; and in the general election, allowing voters to rank candidates for each office on their ballot, adopting a process for how the ranked votes are tallied, and determining the winner to be the candidate with the highest number of votes in the final tally?

## Campaigns
### Support

The campaign in support of Proposition 131 was led by Colorado Voters First. Additionally, Colorado's official voter guide offered the arguments in support of Proposition 131 that a blanket primary system would create an equal opportunity for everyone to participate in primary elections, increase voter turnout in primaries, and make general elections more competitive. It also offered that ranking candidates in order of preference in general elections gives voters more choices, minimizes the spoiler effect, and results in outcomes that better reflect the will of the voters.

#### Federal officials

* John Hickenlooper, US Senator

#### State officials

* Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado
* Bernie Buescher, Former Secretary of State of Colorado

#### State senators

* Don Coram

#### State representatives

* Lindsey Daugherty
* Matt Soper

#### Local politicians

* James Baldwin, Otero County Commissioner
* Anne Brown, San Miguel County Commissioner
* Cody Davis, Mesa County Commissioner
* Mitch Houston, Clear Creek County Commissioner
* Austin Lashley, San Juan County Commissioner
* Steve O’Dorisio, Adams County Commissioner
* Matt Sherr, Eagle County Commissioner
* Lance Waring, San Miguel County Commissioner
* Jeni Arndt, Mayor of Fort Collins
* Ian Billick, Mayor of Crested Butte
* John Clarke, Mayor of Ridgway
* Guyleen Castriota, Mayor of Broomfield
* Mike Johnston, Mayor of Denver
* Rachel Medina, Mayor of Cortez
* Shawn Fallon, Mayor Pro-Tempore of Norwood
* Jason MacMillan, Mayor Pro-Tempore of Crested Butte
* Brian Wong, Mayor Pro-Tempore of Lafayette
* Matt Benjamin, Boulder City Councilor
* Charles Dukes, Commerce City City Councilor
* Nancy Henjum, Colorado Springs City Councilor
* David Leinweber, Colorado Springs City Councilor
* Dakotah McGinlay, Steamboat Springs City Councilor
* Alisa Pappenfort, Salida City Councilor
* Steve Sundberg, Aurora City Councilor
* Ann Taddeo, Brighton City Councilor
* Martin Wayles, Salida City Councilor
* Dustin Zvonek, Aurora City Councilor
* Geoff Grimmer, Eagle Town Councilor

#### Newspapers

* The Durango Herald

#### Organizations

* American Enterprise Institute
* Bipartisan Policy Center
* League of Women Voters

### Opposition

There were two main groups leading opposition against Proposition 131: Voters Rights Colorado and First Choice Counts. Colorado's official voter guide also offered the arguments against Proposition 131 that the measure will make elections more expensive, confuse voters, and weaken faith in the outcomes of Colorado elections. Additionally, it offered that political parties should have separate primaries, with unaffiliated voters already being able to participate in Colorado's primary system, and a blanket primary system would result in more expensive primary campaigns.

#### Federal officials

* Michael Bennet, US Senator
* Lauren Boebert, U.S. representatives from CO-03
* Diana DeGette, U.S. representative from CO-01

#### State senators

* Steve Fenberg
* Julie Gonzales
* Tom Sullivan
* Faith Winter

#### State representatives

* Monica Duran
* Lorena Garcia
* Javier Mabrey
* Emily Sirota
* Steven Woodrow

#### Local officials

* Tamara Pogue, Summit County commissioner
* Kristen Stephens, Larimer County commissioner

#### Organizations

* Colorado Democratic Party
* Colorado Republican Party

## Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | For | Against | Undecided |
| Keating Research | August 28 – September 1, 2024 | 400 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 56% | 21% | 23% |

## Results

Proposition 131 required a simple majority to pass. It failed, only receiving 46% of the vote.
Proposition 131 :
| Choice | Votes | % |
| No | 1,595,256 | 53.53 |
| Yes | 1,385,060 | 46.47 |
| Total votes | 2,980,316 | 100.00 |

### Results by county

| County | For | For | Against | Against | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Adams | 107,637 | 50.28% | 106,454 | 49.72% | 1,183 | 0.55% | 214,091 |
| Alamosa | 3,130 | 44.67% | 3,877 | 55.33% | -747 | -10.66% | 7,007 |
| Arapahoe | 144,974 | 47.83% | 158,100 | 52.17% | -13,126 | -4.33% | 303,074 |
| Archuleta | 3,809 | 43.76% | 4,895 | 56.24% | -1,086 | -12.48% | 8,704 |
| Baca | 526 | 27.93% | 1,357 | 72.07% | -831 | -44.13% | 1,883 |
| Bent | 837 | 40.03% | 1,254 | 59.97% | -417 | -19.94% | 2,091 |
| Boulder | 87,425 | 48.02% | 94,626 | 51.98% | -7,201 | -3.96% | 182,051 |
| Broomfield | 20,985 | 48.21% | 22,541 | 51.79% | -1,556 | -3.57% | 43,526 |
| Chaffee | 6,308 | 46.46% | 7,268 | 53.54% | -960 | -7.07% | 13,576 |
| Cheyenne | 251 | 24.80% | 761 | 75.20% | -510 | -50.40% | 1,012 |
| Clear Creek | 2,773 | 49.19% | 2,864 | 50.81% | -91 | -1.61% | 5,637 |
| Conejos | 1,423 | 36.64% | 2,461 | 63.36% | -1,038 | -26.73% | 3,884 |
| Costilla | 908 | 47.74% | 994 | 52.26% | -86 | -4.52% | 1,902 |
| Crowley | 609 | 36.95% | 1,039 | 63.05% | -430 | -26.09% | 1,648 |
| Custer | 1,304 | 35.39% | 2,381 | 64.61% | -1,077 | -29.23% | 3,685 |
| Delta | 7,128 | 38.19% | 11,536 | 61.81% | -4,408 | -23.62% | 18,664 |
| Denver | 180,060 | 53.81% | 154,578 | 46.19% | 25,482 | 7.61% | 334,638 |
| Dolores | 446 | 33.74% | 876 | 66.26% | -430 | -32.53% | 1,322 |
| Douglas | 92,669 | 40.57% | 135,721 | 59.43% | -43,052 | -18.85% | 228,390 |
| Eagle | 12,544 | 49.19% | 12,958 | 50.81% | -414 | -1.62% | 25,502 |
| El Paso | 163,032 | 45.35% | 196,484 | 54.65% | -33,452 | -9.30% | 359,516 |
| Elbert | 6,708 | 34.50% | 12,738 | 65.50% | -6,030 | -31.01% | 19,446 |
| Fremont | 10,105 | 42.01% | 13,949 | 57.99% | -3,844 | -15.98% | 24,054 |
| Garfield | 12,385 | 43.47% | 16,103 | 56.53% | -3,718 | -13.05% | 28,488 |
| Gilpin | 1,831 | 46.67% | 2,092 | 53.33% | -261 | -6.65% | 3,923 |
| Grand | 4,198 | 44.88% | 5,155 | 55.12% | -957 | -10.23% | 9,353 |
| Gunnison | 4,939 | 48.82% | 5,177 | 51.18% | -238 | -2.35% | 10,116 |
| Hinsdale | 234 | 40.84% | 339 | 59.16% | -105 | -18.32% | 573 |
| Huerfano | 1,835 | 43.66% | 2,368 | 56.34% | -533 | -12.68% | 4,203 |
| Jackson | 280 | 35.76% | 503 | 64.24% | -223 | -28.48% | 783 |
| Jefferson | 160,907 | 47.17% | 180,181 | 52.83% | -19,274 | -5.65% | 341,088 |
| Kiowa | 204 | 25.19% | 606 | 74.81% | -402 | -49.63% | 810 |
| Kit Carson | 1,054 | 30.21% | 2,435 | 69.79% | -1,381 | -39.58% | 3,489 |
| La Plata | 15,396 | 46.86% | 17,457 | 53.14% | -2,061 | -6.27% | 32,853 |
| Lake | 1,899 | 52.49% | 1,719 | 47.51% | 180 | 4.98% | 3,618 |
| Larimer | 101,724 | 48.40% | 108,430 | 51.60% | -6,706 | -3.19% | 210,154 |
| Las Animas | 3,259 | 44.32% | 4,094 | 55.68% | -835 | -11.36% | 7,353 |
| Lincoln | 792 | 31.95% | 1,687 | 68.05% | -895 | -36.10% | 2,479 |
| Logan | 3,275 | 34.10% | 6,330 | 65.90% | -3,055 | -31.81% | 9,605 |
| Mesa | 35,790 | 41.77% | 49,886 | 58.23% | -14,096 | -16.45% | 85,676 |
| Mineral | 311 | 43.50% | 404 | 56.50% | -93 | -13.01% | 715 |
| Moffat | 2,145 | 34.73% | 4,031 | 65.27% | -1,886 | -30.54% | 6,176 |
| Montezuma | 5,463 | 38.67% | 8,666 | 61.33% | -3,203 | -22.67% | 14,129 |
| Montrose | 8,310 | 34.57% | 15,725 | 65.43% | -7,415 | -30.85% | 24,035 |
| Morgan | 4,819 | 37.71% | 7,959 | 62.29% | -3,140 | -24.57% | 12,778 |
| Otero | 3,342 | 39.06% | 5,214 | 60.94% | -1,872 | -21.88% | 8,556 |
| Ouray | 1,714 | 44.24% | 2,160 | 55.76% | -446 | -11.51% | 3,874 |
| Park | 4,859 | 42.15% | 6,668 | 57.85% | -1,809 | -15.69% | 11,527 |
| Phillips | 669 | 30.83% | 1,501 | 69.17% | -832 | -38.34% | 2,170 |
| Pitkin | 4,475 | 44.87% | 5,499 | 55.13% | -1,024 | -10.27% | 9,974 |
| Prowers | 1,630 | 33.52% | 3,233 | 66.48% | -1,603 | -32.96% | 4,863 |
| Pueblo | 35,967 | 44.38% | 45,074 | 55.62% | -9,107 | -11.24% | 81,041 |
| Rio Blanco | 1,087 | 31.16% | 2,401 | 68.84% | -1,314 | -37.67% | 3,488 |
| Rio Grande | 2,483 | 41.80% | 3,457 | 58.20% | -974 | -16.40% | 5,940 |
| Routt | 7,456 | 49.24% | 7,687 | 50.76% | -231 | -1.53% | 15,143 |
| Saguache | 1,487 | 46.98% | 1,678 | 53.02% | -191 | -6.03% | 3,165 |
| San Juan | 270 | 51.43% | 255 | 48.57% | 15 | 2.86% | 525 |
| San Miguel | 2,201 | 51.40% | 2,081 | 48.60% | 120 | 2.80% | 4,282 |
| Sedgwick | 419 | 33.57% | 829 | 66.43% | -410 | -32.85% | 1,248 |
| Summit | 8,275 | 51.70% | 7,732 | 48.30% | 543 | 3.39% | 16,007 |
| Teller | 5,863 | 37.85% | 9,628 | 62.15% | -3,765 | -24.30% | 15,491 |
| Washington | 752 | 28.03% | 1,931 | 71.97% | -1,179 | -43.94% | 2,683 |
| Weld | 74,119 | 44.07% | 94,084 | 55.93% | -19,965 | -11.87% | 168,203 |
| Yuma | 1,351 | 30.46% | 3,085 | 69.54% | -1,734 | -39.09% | 4,436 |
| Total | 1,385,060 | 46.47% | 1,595,256 | 53.53% | -210,196 | -7.05% | 2,980,316 |