Legislators Introduce Vote-By-Mail Legislation
Senator Mike Feeley (D-Jefferson County) and Representative Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins) today (Dec. 24) were joined by five organizations in announcing vote-by-mail legislation that would improve ballot access to all Coloradans.
The vote-by-mail bill would apply to the Colorado presidential primary only, starting in the year 2000.
This legislation was formed with the help of the New Democratic Caucus, a coalition of political centrists, who believe that government should be constantly modernized to meet the challenges of the evolving world.
The AARP, Disabled American Veterans, LARASA, and the League of Women Voters have endorsed the legislation.
The legislation would:
increase voting participation.make voting less of a challenge for those with limited mobility.save money.make voting more convenient for increasingly busy voters.Senator Feeley and Representative Bacon pointed out that all-mail-voting is already in place in Colorado for any election involving nonpartisan candidates, ballot questions or ballot issues. This legislation would simply expand this successful voting process to the presidential primary.
Jefferson County Clerk Joan Fitz-Gerald said the legislation would save counties money and make administering the voting process more efficient. Fitz-Gerald supports voting by mail and believes many other clerks will support it as well.
While the potential exists that this legislation would conflict with Democratic National Committee rules designed to preserve the Iowa and New Hampshire first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contests, the legislators believe that Coloradans should make such decisions for themselves.