The Colorado bill that would greatly injure ballot access for qualified minor parties will be heard in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Thursday, February 16, at 1:30 p.m. It had originally been set for that date, but then taken off the calendar by the sponsors. But now it is back on the schedule.
Before 1998, Colorado had a very difficult definition of qualified party, a group that had polled 10% for Governor. This made it virtually impossible for a minor party to be ballot-qualified. But the harm was not so great back then because the petitions for the nominees of unqualified parties were so easy. The statewide offices needed 300 signatures and were not due until September, although that was raised in 1973.
But having to submit separate petitions for each nominee was nevertheless somewhat burdensome, so in 1998 Colorado’s minor parties persuaded the legislature to create two tiers of qualified party. Large parties continued to nominate by primary; small ones could nominate by convention. The new definition of a qualified minor party was easy: a group with 1,000 registered members, or which had polled 1% of the vote for any statewide race at either of the last two elections. The Libertarian, Green, and Constitution Parties became ballot-qualified when the new law went into effect. This model election law is now threatened; the new bill would eliminate the ability of qualified minor parties to nominate by convention, and would force their members to submit difficult petitions to qualify for a primary. If SB 23-101 passes, the number of minor party candidates on the Colorado ballot will plunge sharply.