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Proposition 131
Establishing All‑Candidate Primary and Ranked Choice Voting General Elections
Results
For 50–60%	Against 70–80% 60–70% 50–60%

2024 Colorado Proposition 131 was a proposed ballot measure that appeared before voters in Colorado during the 2024 general election. The citizen initiated proposition would have replaced Colorado's partisan primaries with non-partisan blanket primaries and would have implemented ranked-choice (instant-runoff) voting for most statewide and state legislative general elections in which the top four candidates in the primary would have qualified for the general election ballot.^[1]

Background

Currently, Colorado uses partisan primaries to select who appears on general election ballots and a first past the post voting system like most US states. Had Proposition 131 passed, Colorado would have switched to a system of blanket primaries and ranked choice general elections. Similar systems were adopted by Maine in 2016 and Alaska in 2020. The proposition was initiated by citizen petition, largely funded by health care executive Kent Thiry. Similar proposals were on the ballot in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon, funded by a network of donors of which Thiry is a part.^[1]

In 2024, Governor Jared Polis signed into law Senate Bill 210 which heightened requirements for the adoption of ranked choice voting in Colorado. Specifically, the law requires that at least 12 communities of various required sizes adopt ranked choice voting at a local level before it can be implemented statewide. This made it unclear how quickly ranked choice voting would have been implemented in Colorado had Proposition 131 passed. However, Polis had committed to ensuring ranked choice voting was put into effect by the 2028 election if voters approved the proposition. In addition, Polis endorsed the measure.^[2]

Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes creating new election processes for certain federal and state offices, and, in connection therewith, creating a new all-candidate primary election for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, CU board of regents, state board of education, and the Colorado state legislature; allowing voters to vote for any one candidate per office, regardless of the voter’s or candidate’s political party affiliation; providing that the four candidates for each office who receive the most votes advance to the general election; and in the general election, allowing voters to rank candidates for each office on their ballot, adopting a process for how the ranked votes are tallied, and determining the winner to be the candidate with the highest number of votes in the final tally?

Campaigns

Support

The campaign in support of Proposition 131 was led by Colorado Voters First. Additionally, Colorado's official voter guide offered the arguments in support of Proposition 131 that a blanket primary system would create an equal opportunity for everyone to participate in primary elections, increase voter turnout in primaries, and make general elections more competitive. It also offered that ranking candidates in order of preference in general elections gives voters more choices, minimizes the spoiler effect, and results in outcomes that better reflect the will of the voters.

'Yes'^[4]

Federal officials

John Hickenlooper, US Senator

State officials

State senators

Don Coram

State representatives

Local politicians

James Baldwin, Otero County Commissioner
Anne Brown, San Miguel County Commissioner
Cody Davis, Mesa County Commissioner
Mitch Houston, Clear Creek County Commissioner
Austin Lashley, San Juan County Commissioner
Steve O’Dorisio, Adams County Commissioner
Matt Sherr, Eagle County Commissioner
Lance Waring, San Miguel County Commissioner
Jeni Arndt, Mayor of Fort Collins
Ian Billick, Mayor of Crested Butte
John Clarke, Mayor of Ridgway
Guyleen Castriota, Mayor of Broomfield
Mike Johnston, Mayor of Denver
Rachel Medina, Mayor of Cortez
Shawn Fallon, Mayor Pro-Tempore of Norwood
Jason MacMillan, Mayor Pro-Tempore of Crested Butte
Brian Wong, Mayor Pro-Tempore of Lafayette
Matt Benjamin, Boulder City Councilor
Charles Dukes, Commerce City City Councilor
Nancy Henjum, Colorado Springs City Councilor
David Leinweber, Colorado Springs City Councilor
Dakotah McGinlay, Steamboat Springs City Councilor
Alisa Pappenfort, Salida City Councilor
Steve Sundberg, Aurora City Councilor
Ann Taddeo, Brighton City Councilor
Martin Wayles, Salida City Councilor
Dustin Zvonek, Aurora City Councilor
Geoff Grimmer, Eagle Town Councilor

Newspapers

The Durango Herald

Organizations

Opposition

There were two main groups leading opposition against Proposition 131: Voters Rights Colorado and First Choice Counts.^[5] Colorado's official voter guide also offered the arguments against Proposition 131 that the measure will make elections more expensive, confuse voters, and weaken faith in the outcomes of Colorado elections. Additionally, it offered that political parties should have separate primaries, with unaffiliated voters already being able to participate in Colorado's primary system, and a blanket primary system would result in more expensive primary campaigns.^[6]

'No'