The Ugly of 2018

You already read Part 1 right? Great, so what in the name of John Denver happened to Colorado in 2018?

The law

The Colorado Secretary of State has a legal obligation to follow the letter of the law and a strict interpretation when considering the validity of signatures submitted by candidates. The important elements are:

1. Gathering proper info from each signature (name, address, signature match, etc).
2. Ensuring residency and party affiliation requirements from signature gatherers
3. Timeliness of signatures and, subsequently, the “one candidate per voter signature” principle.

Each year, all three of these validators are called into question and/or improperly executed by candidates. This year, there were more issues than usual.

Congressional District 5

By far the most dramatic and striking example of the problems with the current system was in the aforementioned Doug Lamborn’s signatures. Lamborn decided not to go through the assembly after the near-disaster in 2016, so he hired a signature gathering company to contract petition-gatherers and collect the required valid signatures. Unfortunately for Lamborn, his petition company failed to ensure residency and party affiliation of the signature gatherers in the eyes of the Secretary of State.

He was sued for his petition-gatherers not meeting residency requirements (being hired out of state). Colorado law required that if you collect signatures, you must live in Colorado and be a registered party member. That meant Congressman Lamborn, who has been in office for a decade, failed to do the basic groundwork to get himself on the ballot. It was a shock to the entire system and of course the dispute went straight to the courts.

Unfortunately for Lamborn, the Colorado State Supreme court ruled that the Lamborn campaign failed to gather enough valid petition signatures to make the ballot. Lamborn sued the State Supreme Court on free speech grounds, sending the case to U.S. District court to decide the constitutionality of the Colorado requirement that signature gatherers must meet the current residency requirements.

Judge Philip Brimmer decided the case fairly quickly ruling that the residency requirements violate the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. Lamborn was back on the ballot, but the long-lasting legal effects of this ruling remain to be seen. Lamborn has now proven he has at least nine lives – surviving primary challenges, assembly surprises, and Colorado State Supreme Court rulings against him. There are some amazing implications from this case.

Other Colorado elections

In both the Republican Colorado Governor and State Treasurer’s races, the winning primary candidates had signature problems as well. Walker Stapleton (governor) ended up going through the assembly at the last minute and Brian Watson (state treasurer) had more signatures accepted by a judge.

The Implications

Colorado law contains deep flaws and 2018 exposed them more than usual. One thing most people on all sides of the debate can agree on: we don’t want our candidates continuously suing their way onto the ballot. Lynn Bartels, spokesperson for Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, stated in an article on Westword.com, “Usually if you sue, you get on the ballot because we have to [strictly] follow the law when we say we can’t count this signature.” While neither interpretation of the law is inherently incorrect in the case of petition issues, the process itself is what must change in order for the voters to win.

Both sides of the aisle should consider:

1. Are the current signature requirements allowing for maximum participation by a wide variety of valid party members?
2. How strict should requirements be on signature gatherers? In other words, are we more concerned about the qualifications of the signer or the person gathering the signature? (see Lamborn’s case above). Does the law currently reflect the right balance?
3. Is it too difficult (or too easy) for candidates trying to get on the ballot? If a majority of candidates end up suing their way on, is it too difficult for candidates who can’t afford expensive lawyers? Or is it too easy for a candidate with money to buy their way?

There are no easy answers to any of these questions, and not a great deal of political incentive for the legislature to address them. 2018 should be a motivator to take a hard look at our system and determine if the current laws lead to the best results for the voter.

The Lessons for your Campaign

Learning from mistakes is hard to do in the campaign world. Often times, when you learn from your mistakes the election has already slipped from your grasp, so it’s better to learn from the mistakes of others! Here are three important takeaways from the Colorado ballot saga.

Become a ballot access expert

This is a simple one, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t do the basic groundwork. Know the rules inside and out so that you can chart the best path for your campaign. You can’t even begin the hard work of winning an election if you aren’t 100% sure you can get yourself on the ballot. Some states require simple registration and a candidate fee, others (like Colorado) require you to demonstrate support from your party or district. Know the rules of the game before you try to play.

Use the ballot access process as a tool to jumpstart your campaign

The petition process in Colorado can be a great way to jumpstart your campaign, recruiting volunteers, finding potential supporters, and practicing your GOTV plans. You don’t have to stand in front of grocery stores and hope supporters come to you. Use voter files to find and target your party’s primary voters, and make a door-to-door walk plan. Once you’ve made the ballot, you can go back to the people that signed your petition and ask them to support you in the election. It’s a premade list of people that have already supported your campaign and are more likely to do so again in the future.

Have a backup plan

Whenever possible, have a backup plan.Your campaign shouldn’t exclusively rely on a single company to gather petition signatures. That’s not to say all petition gathering companies are bad; they should augment the capabilities of your campaign, not replace them. Your campaign has to be ready to do the hard work of campaigning if they want to win in November and they can’t contract out winning the support of your constituents.

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