Rebecca Mears
Posted Feb. 27, 2025
Coloradans know a thing or two about what makes America beautiful. Beyond the overwhelming splendor of nature, the state also boasts a trendsetting history of passing critical laws before the rest of the nation follows its lead — including granting women the right to vote nearly three decades before the federal government ratified the 19th Amendment.
Now, Colorado legislators are considering the Colorado Voting Rights Act.
This important Colorado legislation is also known as Senate Bill 25-1, meaning it’s the very first bill introduced by the state’s Senate this year. However, there are still many processes the bill must endure before it can become law. It passed its first committee hearing on Feb. 18. Every step of the journey, it’s imperative that Colorado legislators never lose sight of how this bill can impact their constituents.
The bill contains commonsense policies designed to protect the voting access Coloradans enjoy today, and it sets fair standards to ensure all Colorado citizens have an equal chance to make their voices heard by voting.
It’s clear Coloradans want their leaders to continue paving the way forward on voting rights.
Specifically, the act would prohibit election methods and district maps that unfairly drown out the voices of communities of color, and would also prohibit election practices that lead to disparities in voting. This is critical, because Coloradans still face large racial disparities in voter turnout. In fact, it’s estimated that if the barriers that cause voting disparities were removed, voter turnout in 2020 would have been roughly 5.1 percentage points higher, and turnout in 2022 would have been around 6.1 points higher.
Although there is a federal voting rights act which does offer some protections, courts have gutted the act over the years — meaning it no longer fully protects the freedom to vote. The Colorado Voting Rights Act would help fill the holes courts have ripped in the federal legislation. At the same time, it would also offer expanded protections like creating a statewide election database, expanding access to multilingual ballots, and improving voting access on tribal lands.
For those interested in learning more about the Colorado Voting Rights Act and other states’ voting rights acts, you’re in luck. The Center for American Progress recently partnered with the Legal Defense Fund to launch a video explainer series, which will feature a new video each month through June 2025. These videos will explain everything you need to know about state voting rights acts and how they can protect the freedom to vote from dangerous, discriminatory attacks.
A recent national poll revealed 73% of polled voters want their representative to prioritize passing a state voting rights act. And this isn’t a partisan matter — that 73% represents voters across the political spectrum. Coloradans deserve fair elections where every citizen has an equal chance to make their voice heard to their government. It’s clear Coloradans want their leaders to continue paving the way forward on voting rights.
Rebecca Mears is the director of Democracy Policy at the Center for American Progress. This commentary is republished from Colorado Newsline under a Creative Commons license.
