Republicans Should Choose Republican Candidates.
That should be a self-evident statement, but in Colorado it is not true. In 2022 twice as many unaffiliated voters receive a Republican ballot in the primary than registered Republicans and nearly 40% of those who vote in the Republican primary are not registered Republicans.
This upside-down election policy has been in place since the 2016 election, when Colorado voters adopted the open primary system. It permits unaffiliated voters to vote in either Republican or Democrat primaries.
Since then there has been a significant drop in Colorado Republican membership, there are no statewide Republican elected officials, the legislature has the least number of Republicans in 80 years and the number of Republican county officials is dropping.
The open primary has been devastating to the Colorado GOP. It has opened the floodgates to liberal progressives who are fundamentally transforming Colorado into a high-tax, broken-economy, big-government, woke-world.
The open primary has also ratcheted up the cost of primary elections for counties and candidates. County clerks must print, mail and process millions more ballots. Primary candidates are forced to spend much more at the primary level to expand their outreach as the raw numbers of ballots and voters is that much bigger.
Finally, the open primary is not constitutional. In 2000 the US Supreme Court’s Jones decision declared that a political party cannot be forced into an open primary system. At a minimum it violates the citizens’ constitutional freedom of association.
For all of these reasons In July of 2023 the Colorado Republican party filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the open primary. The wheels of justice move slowly, but we expect to have a court hearing early in 2025. We need your help to fund this vital project.
Federal lawsuits are expensive, but if everyone pitches in we can aggressively challenge this unconstitutional, unworkable law that is crushing the two-party system here in Colorado.
These could be the most cost efficient dollars you invest in our state’s future. There is a lot that needs to be done to clean up our elections in Colorado and this is the first and most productive step we must take right now.
Please join us by contributing to the funds that have been set up to launch this significant challenge to Colorado’s open primary system.
The most direct way to contribute is to the Colorado open primary lawsuit fund, set up by the Claremont Institute for Constitutional Jurisprudence, which is a 501(c)(3) organization. These contributions can be tax-deductible when itemizing your tax deductions. The link to donate online is: litigation.claremont.org To mail checks click here for their contribution form.
If you prefer you may also give directly to the Colorado Republican Party‘s lawsuit fund with a donation that is not tax deductible. Please note that these funds are for the exclusive purpose of the Colorado lawsuit and will not be used for the endorsement or promotion of any political candidates. The GOP link to donate is:
secure.anedot.com/colorado-republican-party/legal-fund
To mail checks to the Colorado GOP:
5950 S. Willow Drive, Suite 210, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Please specify that this is for the open primary lawsuit.
