Electoral reform in Colorado

Electoral reform in Colorado refers to efforts to change the voting laws in the Centennial State. In 2004, Coloradans considered Amendment 36, which would have split Colorado's 9 electoral votes according to the proportion of the popular vote received by each candidate.

History

This would theoretically have allowed a third party candidate to receive an electoral vote if s/he got 12% of the popular vote in Colorado. Opponents did not like the fact that the amendment, if adopted, could affect the outcome of the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. In fact, the outcome of the election would not have been affected by the adoption of the amendment as none of the third party candidates achieved even 1% of the popular vote.

Also, if every state adopted similar amendments, and third-party candidates did well enough that no candidate received a majority of the country's electoral votes, under Amendment XII of the U.S. Constitution, the President would be chosen by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The amendment failed by a large margin.[1] In 2006, the Colorado Senate passed a bill to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact but it failed in the Colorado House of Representatives. In 2007, the Aspen, Colorado City Council votes 5-0 to place a measure on the ballot to implement instant runoff voting in elections.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Colorado rejects proposal to split electoral votes, USA Today, November 2, 2004.
  2. ↑ Voters to decide on runoffs, mayoral term, Carolyn Sackariason, Aspen Times, July 18, 2007.


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