On October 6, the CU Denver School of Public Affairs hosted its second virtual First Friday on the topic of What Are We Voting On? Joined by an expert panel, the event was moderated by Paul Teske, Dean of the School of Public Affairs. The panelists were Michael Fields, Executive Director of Colorado Rising Action; Lynea Hansen, Senior Vice President of Strategies 360; and Andrew Kenney, Public Affairs Reporter for Colorado Public Radio. The discussion covered a range of topics from the upcoming presidential election to the state and local ballot amendments and proposals.

The panel discussed what they believed to be the most important statewide ballot initiatives, and all were in agreement that fiscally oriented measures—such as Proposition 117, Amendment B, and Proposition 116—would be of highest priority and interest for constituents. The controversial Amendment B, to repeal the Gallagher amendment, sparked an interesting debate between Hansen and Fields, who offered great insight and context into arguments for and against repealing it. 

With so much national attention on mail-in ballots, a first for many U.S. states, Teske asked the panelists their thoughts on Colorado’s voting process. All panelists agreed that Colorado is well poised to have a successful mail-in ballot process, given the state’s long-time experience of offering this method of voting to Coloradans. “There’s a lot of confidence in our voting system, but there may be hiccups across the country,” said Hansen, referencing Kenney’s example of voting failures that have “fueled fires to undermine the faith in our election.”

Lastly, the panel predicted the results of the primary and Senate elections in Colorado and analyzed polling numbers, touching on whether Colorado is moving toward permanence as a blue state, based on factors like the economy and a younger electorate moving to the state.