GILPIN COUNTY — By now, you have probably received your ballot for the June 30 primary elections here in Colorado.
These include opportunities for choosing candidates for one US Senate seat, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, every one of the 65 state House seats, and 21 of the 35 state Senate seats.
It's only the primary, so you probably won’t bother to vote. Yet it's essential that you understand just how important it is that you do.
It’s common knowledge that primaries tend to attract voters passionate about their party’s platform or specific candidates, resulting all too frequently in choosing candidates on the extreme edge of their party’s positions. This results in elections between representatives of extremes in each party.
And the idea that our government is being taken over by extremists becomes a truism.
Some states have attempted to address this issue by changing the format of the primary election. Most notable is California, with its “jungle primary,” where all candidates run in one wild election, and the two with the highest number of votes, regardless of party, go on to the general election (or, if one candidate receives 50% plus one of the votes, they are acclaimed winner of the position).
We here in Colorado offer a slightly less fraught option, but one that is considerably more open than most to opting for a favored candidate. Anyone, from any party, can vote in the primary of either Democratic or Republican party. Voting in the party’s primary does not make one a member of that party, or limit voting in the general election.
Don’t want to elect an extremist to a position in this state? Then vote in the primary. Want to see an election between two reasonable candidates? Then vote in the primary.
You don’t even have to leave your house to do it. Our Secretary of State and your County Clerk have made it super easy to vote, with the ballot that arrived sometime in the last few days.
You have up to June 30 to mail in your ballot, or drop it off at one of the many convenient drop boxes the counties have established. Take an active part in one of the most critical elections of our time, and help choose the final candidates for office in our state.
