Colorado Closed Primary Elections Initiative (2024)
| Colorado Closed Primary Elections Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Elections and campaigns | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Colorado Colorado Closed Primary Elections Initiative was not on the ballot in Colorado as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.
This initiative would have required primary elections to be closed for major political parties and established that the candidate who receives a plurality of votes (the most votes) wins the party's primary and becomes the general election nominee.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for the initiative would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning eliminating the ability of unaffiliated voters to participate in a major political party's primary election, and, in connection therewith, requiring each major political party to restrict its primary election to voters affiliated with the party and establishing that a major party candidate who receives a plurality of the votes cast at a primary election becomes the party’s nominee in the general election? | ” |
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Colorado, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 5 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office of Colorado secretary of state in the preceding general election. For initiated constitutional amendments, signature gathering must be distributed to include signatures equal to 2 percent of the registered voters who live in each of the state's 35 senate districts.
State law provides that petitioners have six months to collect signatures after the ballot language and title are finalized. State statutes require a completed signature petition to be filed three months and three weeks before the election at which the measure would appear on the ballot. The Constitution, however, states that the petition must be filed three months before the election at which the measure would appear. The secretary of state generally lists a date that is three months before the election as the filing deadline.
Constitutional amendments in Colorado require a 55% supermajority vote to be ratified and added to the state constitution. This requirement was added by Amendment 71 of 2016.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2024 ballot:
- Signatures: 124,238 valid signatures
- Deadline: August 5, 2024
The secretary of state is responsible for signature verification. Verification is conducted through a review of petitions regarding correct form and then a 5 percent random sampling verification. If the sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required valid signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If the sampling projects more than 110 percent of the required signatures, the initiative is certified. If less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.
Details about this initiative
- The initiative was filed by Linda Good and Candice Stutzriem. The initiative was cleared for signature gathering between April 26 and August 5, 2024.[1]
- Sponsors did not submit signatures by the deadline on August 5, 2024.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Colorado Denver (capital) |
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