The Yes on 107 and 108 campaign to reinstate a presidential primary and open all primaries to unaffiliated voters released a new ad to remind voters that inclusion isn’t just a nice idea; it’s on the ballot.
The new ad, called “Inclusion” showcases how great ideas — from the wheel, to rock ‘n’ roll, to innovations in science – come from collaboration and working together. Let Colorado Vote believes the same is true of democracy and elections, and that greater participation, by adding over one million new voices to the primary system, can make all the difference in Colorado.
Currently, over one-third of Colorado’s voters are unaffiliated. Colorado leads the nation in the growth of unaffiliated voters and with a completely closed primary system, which means Colorado disenfranchises a higher percentage of its population than almost any other state.
Colorado can do better by voting YES this fall on Proposition 107 to restore a presidential primary and YES on Proposition 108, to open taxpayer-funded primaries to unaffiliated voters.
The measures have drawn the support of Gov. John Hickenlooper and former Govs. Bill Ritter, Bill Owens, Roy Romer and Dick Lamm; and support from editorial boards at The Denver Post, The Colorado Springs Gazette, The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, The Boulder Daily Camera, The Greeley Tribune, The Durango Herald and the Fort Collins Coloradoan, among others.
Big Tobacco — not an industry known for sticking to the truth under pressure — is spending $10 million dollars to mislead voters about Amendment 72. We want to give you the tools to answer questions you might be getting from family and friends about why they should vote YES on Amendment 72.
Click on the image or links to learn more and share this important information!
Q: WHY SHOULD WE RAISE TAXES ON CIGARETTES?
If there’s one thing that the Centers for Disease Control, the Surgeon General, and Phillip Morris agree on, it’s this: raising the price of cigarettes is the best way to get people to stop smoking, and to stop kids from starting.
Based on studies of tobacco tax increases all over the country, Amendment 72 is predicted to prevent more than 34,000 kids from becoming smokers, save over 20,000 lives and save over $1.4 billion in future health care costs.
Contrary to ads being funding by tobacco companies, all of the money raised by Amendment 72 is dedicated to programs that will directly benefit those most impacted by smoking. From programs to help people quit to medical research on smoking-related diseases like lung cancer; from veterans health services to medical improvements for clinics treating underserved Coloradans, all of the money raised by the tax is accounted for and targeted where it can do the most good for those most affected by smoking.
Q: WHAT ABOUT E-CIGARETTES AND MARIJUANA? WHY NOT TAX JUNK FOOD AND ALCOHOL?
Here’s the thing: Colorado’s “Single Subject Rule” says that a bill can only focused on one topic. The Yes on 72 coalition chose to focus on the primary problem: smoking, which kills more people in Colorado every year than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined.
Q: WON’T THIS TAX INCREASE JUST CAUSE A RISE IN SMUGGLING AND ILLICIT CIGARETTE TRADE?
The tobacco industry has pushed scare tactics like this for decades, and numerous studies have called these predictions exaggerated. In fact, there has only been a single case of cigarette smuggling in Colorado since the tobacco tax was last raised in 2004. Cigarette tax increases are proven to work and that’s why tobacco companies fight them.
Meanwhile, Colorado is falling behind: we currently rank 38th in the nation for cigarette taxes. Passing Amendment 72 will allow us to fund smoking cessation and prevention programs at the level recommended by the CDC for the first time in decades.
To protect these funds for the programs voters intend, we need to put the cigarette tax in the Constitution where it’s safe from politics and lobbying from big tobacco. In fact, tobacco taxes have been in the Colorado Constitution since 2004, and have helped thousands of smokers to quit. Amendment 72 makes the existing (but outdated) tax more effective at deterring smoking by raising the rate. It will also provide funding to programs which help smokers quit and take care of their long term health needs. The best way to ensure those funds are protected is to put them somewhere they’re off limits to short-sighted political decisions.
Ad to run on digital platforms, in TV markets across Colorado
DENVER — Today, Let Colorado Vote, the campaign dedicated to building consensus for policies to increase voter access and participation, launched its first advertisement of the election season.
“Can we play?” highlights the unfairness of Colorado’s current election systems that limit participation and choice and urges voters to make our elections better by Voting Yes on Propositions 107 & 108.
“Thanks to our committed supporters from across the state, who share our desire for elections in Colorado that are more fair and inclusive, we have raised the resources to communicate our message broadly,” said campaign chair Kent Thiry, Chairman and CEO of DaVita. “Propositions 107 and 108 are essential for strengthening our Democracy in Colorado by including the more than 1 million unaffiliated Coloradans who currently pay taxes for elections they are banned from participating in.”
Here is a link to the ad that will begin airing today online and is planned to run on broadcast networks and cable systems in Denver, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction.<
Colorado voters will be asked this fall to re-institute a presidential primary and to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in taxpayer-financed primary elections without choosing a party.
The measures were approved for the ballot today by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office after verifying that enough voter signatures had been collected.
“Colorado voters value independence and want elections that encourage participation,” said Kent Thiry, Let Colorado Vote Campaign Chair and CEO of DaVita. “Only 5% of voters participated in the March caucuses, which is not a sign of a healthy democracy. Our initiatives will fix that and allow more than 1 million unaffiliated voters to participate in elections that they currently pay for, but thus far have been excluded from.”
The two measures would change state law (as opposed to amending the constitution):
Initiative 140, which will restore a presidential primary and allow unaffiliated voters to participate without affiliating with a party;
Initiative 98, which will allow the state’s more than 1 million unaffiliated voters to participate in taxpayer-financed primary elections without affiliating with a party.
“We believe, strongly, that allowing unaffiliated voters to participate in taxpayer funded primary elections is a matter of fairness,” said John Hereford, Let Colorado Vote Vice Chair and founder of Oak Leaf Energy Partners. “Engaging a broader cross-section of the voting spectrum in primaries will make our politicians more responsive to the center and not just the extreme wings of their respective parties.”
Colorado leads the nation in the growth of unaffiliated – or independent – voters since 2008, and they now make up 36% of all voters in the state.
But unaffiliated voters in Colorado face barriers that don’t exist in most other states. Colorado is among a minority of states that excludes unaffiliated voters from taxpayer-financed primary elections, and history shows that this system discourages participation.
Turnout for Colorado’s primary elections has been dropping since 2010, and just 1 in 5 voters participated in the state’s June primary.
The current primary does not include the presidential race, which is handled through a caucus system with preference polls rather than official ballots. Fewer than 190,000 of the state’s 3 million voters participated in the March caucuses.
Other campaign Vice Chairs are: Kelly Brough, President/CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber; Don Childears, President/CEO of the Colorado Bankers Association; Cole Finegan, partner at Hogan Lovells US; and Mike Kopp, executive director of Colorado Concern.
Let Colorado Vote is supported by a diverse array of individuals and organizations, including: Gov. John Hickenlooper; former Govs. Bill Ritter, Bill Owens, Roy Romer and Dick Lamm; former U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Hank Brown; Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers; former Transportation Secretary Federico Peña; and civic and business groups, including: the Denver Metro Chamber, Colorado Concern, the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, Club 20, the Colorado Association of Realtors, the Colorado Contractors Association, the Metro Mayors Caucus, Progressive 15, the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and the Vail Valley Partnership.
Like Isaac Slade says: “The caucus system is old fashioned, and we have outgrown it, and we’re ready to join the national conversation for something better.”
What’s better than brews and great live music? We had both earlier this summer at a campaign fundraiser for Let Colorado Vote. Isaac Slade, lead singer of The Fray, headlined the event at the Great Divide Brewery in Denver, giving a wonderful intimate performance, including one song un-mic’d. The Denver native talked about why he loves Colorado and why he supports the Let Colorado Vote initiatives, which seek to increase participation in primary elections in Colorado. Thanks to the folks at Great Divide for hosting the event. We’ll be doing more to get the word out about the initiatives as we get closer to the election. See a video of Isaac on the Let Colorado Vote Facebook page and learn more about the campaign here.
Join other like-minded Coloradans as we work to open primaries to the 37% of voters currently locked out and to restore Colorado’s presidential primary election in 2020
Come to Great Divide Barrel Bar on June 27 to join Isaac Slade of The Frayand Let Colorado Vote as we discuss how to make our democracy more inclusive and representative!
