New Democrat Update - January 1999
NEW DEMOCRATS ADVOCATE VOTE-BY-MAIL
Sen. Mike Feeley (D-Jefferson County) and Rep. Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins) of the New Democrat Caucus are pushing a “Vote-By-Mail” bill in the legislature to improve ballot access for all Coloradans. Thus far, the American Association of Retired Persons, Disabled American Veterans, Latin American Research and Service Agency, and the League of Women Voters have endorsed the proposal. Other New Democrat Caucus members include Sens. Stan Matsunaka and Terry Phillips as well as Reps. Dan Grossman, Bob Hagedorn, Jennifer Veiga, and Suzanne Williams.
Based on a just-released Colorado DLC white paper, this initiative will boost voting participation, save money and time for busy families, increase access for those with limited mobility and prevent election fraud. In short, Vote-By-Mail delivers better service to voters at less cost to taxpayers.
Colorado and the rest of the nation must raise the level of participation in our democracy. In the 1994 mid-term elections, only 38 percent of eligible adults across the country voted. For citizens 18 to 29, about four in five stayed home. In 1998, the national turnout was 36 percent, the lowest since 1942.
Feeley and Bacon emphasized at the news conference that all-mail-voting is already allowed in Colorado for any election involving nonpartisan candidates, ballot questions or ballot issues. This proposal simply expands this successful voting process to the presidential primary starting in the year 2000.
At the news conference, Jefferson County Clerk Joan Fitz-Gerald said the legislation would save counties money and make administering the voting process more efficient. She supports voting by mail and believes many other county clerks across the state will support it as well.
Vote-By-Mail has already received widespread media attention including coverage by the Denver Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post, Fort Collins Coloradoan and Colorado Springs Gazette.
The Colorado DLC white paper, authored by New Democrat leaders Rutt Bridges and John Loewy, reviews Oregon's incredible success with mail balloting and how it would work in Colorado. For a copy of the white paper, please e-mail the Colorado DLC.
Voters repeatedly have made it clear they want the two parties to cooperate on efforts to make government an instrument for solving problems and helping Coloradans improve their own lives. Commonsensical ideas like Vote-By-Mail give Democrat and Republican state legislators an opportunity to work together and really make bipartisanship work in the legislature.
In the upcoming session, the legislature should forge a coalition of the center that advocates creative, consistent and unflinching action. Coloradans want to reform state government and make it an effective instrument for achieving progressive goals in the Information Age.
Vote-By-Mail is a good step in that direction.