Securing Democracy
Our constitutional democracy is under attack and needs to be secured and protected from authoritarianism. For the first time in our republic’s history, a losing presidential candidate and many in his party publicly encouraged the use of force to keep power and attempted to change the outcome of the election. The failure to accept the results of the 2020 election has led to state legislative efforts to limit every citizen’s right to vote.
We must push back against the failure to respect the peaceful transfer of power, deliberate efforts to decrease voter trust, partisan gerrymandering, dysfunction in Congress, imbalance in the US Supreme Court, and the undue influence of dark money. Further, we acknowledge the integral role of a functioning fact-based media to disseminate accurate information, free of “alternative facts” and foreign interference.
A secure democracy is an existential issue for the United States.
Election Integrity
Colorado serves as a model for voting integrity and we want to build on that trust.
Require thorough non-partisan audits up to full manual hand counts.
All aspects of elections should be transparent and open to public inquiry.
Require full disclosure of funding sources for all political advertising and activities.
Use of hand-marked paper ballots which provide for a permanent paper trail,.
Fully staff and fund efforts to prevent, investigate and prosecute election meddling, voter and election official
intimidation.
Prohibit election administrators from adopting procedures which unfairly influence elections and from
involvement in any campaigns on their ballot other than their own election campaigns.
Prohibit any authority other than the electorate, e.g., a state legislature, from determining the outcome of an
election.
Fix the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to forbid challenges to a state’s electoral votes without justification by
enacting the reforms suggested at the federal level.
Follow the will of the voters in primaries maintaining neutrality with regard to candidates, media coverage, and marketing firms.
Expand Voting Rights, Voter Access, and Citizen-Petitioning Powers
Voting rights must be protected and expanded. The people with a stake in the outcomes should have a voice. Colorado has been a leader in expanding access to voting.
Ensure the right to vote by enacting and enforcing the Voting Rights Act.
Guarantee the right of suffrage and HAVA (Help America Vote Act) access to voting to citizens regardless of
felon status, current incarceration status, housing status, citizens whose first language is not English, citizens
with disabilities, and all other citizens of voting age.
Support postage-paid mail-in ballots.
Maintain sufficient numbers of 24/7 drop boxes.
Allow online petition signatures for ballot initiatives and/or reduce the number of signatures for state ballot
initiatives.
Require only a majority to overturn any constitutional language that was originally passed with a majority.
Implement a National Day of Voting.
Candidate Recruitment and Ballot Access
The quality of our representative government is dependent on good candidates running for office. Candidates should compete on a level playing field.
1. Adopt an assembly threshold of 20% or otherwise provide for easier primary ballot access via the assembly process.
Allow online petition signatures and/or reduce the number of signatures for candidates and state ballot initiatives.
Require US presidential and vice-presidential, gubernatorial, US Senate and US House candidates to submit at least 5 years of tax returns for Colorado ballot access.
Oppose organizations using the Democratic name, such as the DNC, DSCC, and DCCC, making endorsements prior to a primary election or bar contracts with organizations who work with a particular Democratic candidate.
Pay a living wage and provide adequate stipends and staffing to elected officials commensurate with the time and experience required for the positions.
We support a special election when the vacancy of an elected state or local official occurs more than nine months before the next election for that office.
Limit recall petitions of elected officials to a specific violation of oath of office or specific election misdeeds, not political motivations.
Campaign Finance Reform
An informed electorate, not financial interests, should determine election outcomes. The Democratic Party should work to reduce the influence of money in campaigns.
Require timely and full disclosure of the names of all original donors and amounts donated to all Independent Expenditure Committees and issue committees operating in Colorado.
Adopt public funding of elections to attract more diverse candidates.
Pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the influence of corporations as currently permitted by Citizens
United or bring a new case that can overrule Citizens United to the Supreme Court.
Mandate disclosure of PACs and 527 funding from any group operating within the state and advocating
legislative positions, ballot initiative support, or party backed resolutions.
Better Voter Representation and Voter Satisfaction
Our current electoral system concentrates power and excludes people. Eliminating structural impediments can result in inclusive representation and improve voter satisfaction.
Support the nationwide passage of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
Oppose an Article V constitutional convention which can become controlled by special interests.
Support statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Create new district maps that are free of partisan gerrymandering and that meet the required districting criteria.
Replace plurality voting with methods that allow voters to rate or rank candidates. Adopt proportional
representation for multi-member bodies.
Continue to study and assess the effectiveness of our caucus system.
Government Ethics
Ethical behavior of decision-makers and decision-influencers affects citizens’ trust in their government. We should minimize and penalize opportunities for corruption.
Require the executive and legislative branches to maintain publicly available logs of government officials’ interactions with lobbyists and constituents.
Oppose elected officials simultaneously working as lobbyists or leaving office and then becoming paid lobbyists.
Require national and state legislators to avoid financial conflicts of interest.
Support a ban on the trading of individual stocks by federal and state elected officials and their immediate
family members.
Require the US president, vice-president, US Senators, members of Congress, and governors to place their assets in a blind trust or in index funds.
Every government employee and contract worker has the obligation to refuse any order which would cause
them to violate their oath of office.
Protect whistleblowers from retaliation and public identification.
Require ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) or other template bills to clearly communicate the origin of the bill text.
Whenever possible, provide the text of sponsor-prepared amendments prior to the testimony phase of Colorado General Assembly committee hearings.
Publicly announce Requests for Proposals for government contracts, have an open application process with public, archived records, including justification for choosing the eventual contractor up to and including details of the applicants’ scores.
Government Accountability
Government officials should govern for the benefit of the people.
Change rules to make a federal government shutdown harder to achieve by requiring legislators to increase the debt ceiling as needed but also to simultaneously create a fiscally responsible plan to reduce the debt in the future without adversely impacting the poor and economically vulnerable.
Institute a Colorado-style GAVEL amendment for the US Senate and the US House of Representatives so that every bill and every nominee receives a committee vote.
Demand each branch of government take its checks-and-balances responsibility seriously, both in dealings with other branches of government and within its own branch.
Repair US Senate rules. As long as our federal government is paralyzed by political polarization, the US Senate rules should be changed to spread power among its members rather than concentrate power in the Majority Leader. Reinstate the talking filibuster.
Repair our state vacancy process. All nominations should receive a vote in a timely manner. For a vacancy in a position requiring approval by a legislative body, an appointed acting official should be approved within 90 days or vacate the post.
Official documents, including ballot language, should be plainly written.
Media Reform
An open and accountable government requires that voters be factually informed on issues, candidates, and the workings of government. A functioning and trustworthy media are cornerstones of a democracy.
Defend fact-based journalism and take action to hold the media accountable.
Protect journalists, their sources, and the freedom of the media to provide critical oversight of government
activities, including war news when doing so does not endanger our troops.
Media ownership should be revealed and not consolidated into the hands of a few, and require Public,
Educational and Governmental (PEG) access to provide free, fair, and open public access television as a First
Amendment, Freedom of Speech forum for all US residents on an equal and non-commercial basis.
Provide financial incentives for media competition, local ownership, and independent media.
Support Net Neutrality.
Return to the principles of the Fairness Doctrine and Equal-Time Rule. Broadcast license holders should be
required to give free airtime to all qualified candidates or issues.
Return control of Voice of America to a non-partisan board with independent auditors.
Significantly increase government funding of public broadcasting, e.g., PBS.
Require licensed broadcast media to provide an increased level of public service broadcasting.
Monitor political data collection to protect individuals’ privacy and require collection to be opt-in.
Human and Civil Rights
Protect citizens conducting their civic duty of non-violent protest. Respect and protect all non-violent citizen protesters, including those participating in civil disobedience from any and all use of force by officers of the law or other uniformed personnel.
Combat racism, sexism and white supremacy; prioritize nondiscrimination. Protect against discrimination and ensure the promotion of equal opportunity.
Require training in all institutions regarding the background of and reporting of hate crimes.
Oppose the use of eminent domain to usurp property rights for the economic gain of private individuals, corporations, organizations, government entities or other private-public partnerships.
Democracy requires and promotes open access to information and literature and will counter efforts to restrict access by banning books or open discussions.
Colorado should follow federal guidelines for disinvesting in foreign countries with civil rights or human rights issues.
Patriarchal Systems, Religious Nationalism, Systemic Racism Based on Religion
Implement and enforce laws to ensure that government cannot interfere with the individual right to make decisions regarding one’s own life, death, and self-determination.
Implement and enforce laws that prevent the use of religious protections to discriminate.
Enact and enforce laws that address religious hate crimes by maintaining a hate crime reporting system that is
easily accessible to victims.
Prohibit religious exemptions, legislation, and ballot initiatives that mask discrimination as religious beliefs.
Prohibit the authorization of exemption from generally applicable law if the exemption would impose the religious views, habits, or practices of one party upon another.
Prohibit the authorization of exemption from generally applicable law if the exemption would impose meaningful harm, including dignitary harm, on a third party
Prohibit the authorization of exemption from generally applicable law if the exemption would permit discrimination against other persons, including persons who do not belong to the religion or adhere to the beliefs of those to whom the exemption is given.
Provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service.
Prevent legislation from being used to deny goods or services the government has contracted, granted, or made an agreement to provide to a beneficiary; or a person's full and equal enjoyment of a taxpayer funded good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation.
Expand the definition of public accommodations to include places or establishments that provide (1) exhibitions, recreation, exercise, amusement, gatherings, or displays; (2) goods, services, or programs; and (3) transportation services.
Urge the Colorado Democratic Party to adopt the original Pledge of Allegiance, as written by Francis Bellamy: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Women, Gender Equity, and Reproductive Rights
Protect the rights of all women including young and aging women, women of color, immigrants, refugees, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Protect the Equal Rights Amendment; enact and enforce laws addressing all inequalities that women face.
Close the pay gap.
Ensure confidential access to reproductive education and healthcare, including access to affordable, safe and
legal abortion.
Ensure women have the right to life free from mental, emotional, sexual, and physical violence. Strong
leadership and active local, national, and international cooperation is critical to improve conditions for and
eliminate all abuses of women.
Provide all abuse survivors assistance, support, and resources for recovery.
Women in uniformed services have the right to be treated with dignity, to not be sexually harassed, to fair trial
when victimized, to criminal prosecution in a civilian sector.
Prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in all areas including public
accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system.
Enable the justice system to intervene in equal protection actions in court on account of sexual orientation or
gender identity.
Prohibit an individual from being denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a
dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.
Active commitment to inclusion of increased diversity in all levels of societal involvement and employment opportunities, for women of all backgrounds, ethnicities, class status; especially for historically male dominated arenas.
Children’s Rights
Increase government spending on children to ensure every child has a fair and equitable opportunity for survival, safety, health, education, and a home.
Every child has the following basic, fundamental rights:
a. Life, survival, and development.
b. Protection from violence, abuse, or neglect.
c. An education that enables children to fulfill their potential. d. To be raised by, or have a relationship with, their parents. e. Express their opinions and be heard.Ensure all laws fully comply with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Maintain an independent ombudsman for child rights.
Cater to disadvantaged and foster youth entering the workforce by investing in a transitional services program.
Disabilities and ADA
Disabilities often include any individual or combination of physical, mental, and intellectual impairments, and level of abilities.
Establish and enforce policy that protects the rights of all individuals in all life matters.
Protect the right to autonomy and self-determination, enrichment and quality of life.
Oppose legislation that would weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Urge Colorado senators to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Fully implement and enact the Americans with Disabilities Act in the Colorado constitution.
Provide full legal protection from all forms of discrimination and economic pressure to make decisions that do not reflect his/her desire.
Pass, implement, and enforce laws protecting at-risk individuals from Mistreatment, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (MANE).
Immediately and fully implement laws to provide improved access to housing, transportation, medical assistance, education, and employment for those with any disabilities.
End Colorado’s long-term care wait list for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD).
Fully fund skilled care providers within their communities and homes.
Improve maximal community integration in the least restrictive environment to increase quality of life, personal
fulfillment, and life purpose; the state should not define what gives enrichment and quality of life to the individual.
Enforce current laws that ensure safety through confidentiality and informed consent for the release of
information related to developmental, physical, and mental health issues.
Protect the right to have the conversation at their level of understanding to ensure maximal self-determination and dignity in end-of-life decisions.
Ensure more stringent oversight of Group Homes to ensure humane living conditions.
Applaud the general assembly for eliminating sub-minimum wage and encourage further actions toward fair,
equitable pay.
Disabilities and ADA: Emergency Management (disaster preparedness and response)
1. Implement emergency preparedness and response policies that ensure the safety and participation of individuals with disabilities as valued contributors.
13. Safeguard financial security and long term, quality affordable health care.
14. Protect the right to be heard, to meaningfully engage in decisions related to their own well-being and to be valued contributors in their communities.
15.Provide equal access to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, and to facilities and services open or provided to the public.
16.Enact legislation that enables participation in the assessment, design, implementation and monitoring of emergency programs before, during and after an emergency.
17.Honor existing resources and capacities to make meaningful contributions to emergency risk management. Provide training for individuals and communities to develop the skills, knowledge and capacities required to prepare and protect themselves from hazards, and to maximize their ability for survival and recovery following an emergency.
18. Emergency risk management should include all people, especially those with all types of disabilities.
19. Discrimination on the basis of disability “means any distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability which has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It includes all forms of discrimination, including denial of reasonable accommodation.”.
Disabilities and ADA: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice
Ensure that people with disabilities of any kind are treated safely and with dignity, and are treated fairly in the criminal legal system, whether they are accused of a crime, or the victim of a crime.
Implement and fully fund Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) Programs statewide, that pair a mental health clinician with a paramedic or emergency medical technician (EMT) to respond to low risk, low acuity calls.
Train law enforcement officers and other first responders to identify IDD and mental illness emergencies, to call for appropriately skilled responders to deal with such emergencies.
Protect those who enter the law enforcement/criminal justice system by identifying specific needs and bringing in appropriate service agencies such as the ARC and those qualified to work with this demographic.
LGBTQIA+ Community
Establish and enforce policy that protects the rights of LGBTQIA+ individuals in all life matters; including, but not limited to:
Ensure and accommodate the use of preferred name, gender identity, and pronouns.
Ensure the availability of facilities consistent with their gender identity, regardless of assigned sex at birth.
Require the use of gender-neutral language in all local, state, and federal documents.
Expand current definitions of civil rights and hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.
Expand federal anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression as protected classes.
Protect marriage equality.
Empower individuals to run for elected office at all levels of government.
Expand economic equality and funding for programs and services.
Defend all military members and their right to serve openly.
Defend the dignity and safety of incarcerated individuals.
Indigenous People (Native Americans) and People of Color (POC): African Americans, Latinos, Asian American, Pacific Island Americans, South Asian Americans
Ensure Indigenous peoples and POC are treated with dignity in all areas of life.
Ensure indigenous peoples and POC have the right to autonomy, self-determination and to preserve their ways of life.
Support affirmative action and public assistance programs to enhance equal access.
Oppose measures that would eliminate affirmative action programs.
Honor unique cultural differences and socio-economic needs. Support first nations people in the preservation and perpetuation of their native languages.
Protect indigenous environments, existing treaties, and sovereign rights.
Assess reparations/land transfers to Colorado native tribes and POC for previous takings of life, liberty, and land.
Denounce all forms of race-based discrimination, hate, harassment, and violence.
Enact and enforce laws that address hate crimes by maintaining a hate crime reporting system that is easily accessible to victims.
Ensure the education in schools of the history of the local peoples and territories and their significance in current cultural and socio-economic climate.
Slavery and Human Trafficking
Prevent exploitation of citizens and migrant workers: Implement best practices to prevent/keep people from being coerced into forced marriages, illegal or improper adoptions, unpaid domestic services, and sex trades. This includes human trafficking in all forms.
End mass incarceration, which is 5-10 times higher than other industrialized democracies.
Advocate for the revision of the Thirteenth Amendment, quoted below, to abolish slavery in full.
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
The labor of all people, including those who are incarcerated, deserves respect and fair pay. Prohibit private
companies and governments from extracting free or nearly free labor from incarcerated people, who are
employed doing often dangerous or menial labor for cents to the hour.
Protect victims of trafficking, including allowing for trafficking victims to remain in the US.
Implement enhanced criminal penalties in the pursuit of trafficking networks in cooperation with local, national, and international entities.
Support reintegration for victims of slavery and human trafficking, including witness protection programs,
educational / vocational training opportunities, financial assistance, shelter, and counseling services.
“War on Terror” Policies
Oppose attempts to expand domestic national security or surveillance powers at the expense of rights.
Enforce due process for all people detained under suspicion of terrorism.
Enforce transparency in governmental criminal and civil proceedings.
End warrantless wiretapping and physical searches.
Delete detainee provisions that provide for indefinite detention of terror suspects, without charge, trial or representation by counsel.
Regulate and monitor the use of delayed notification search warrants, which have proven crucial in drug and organized crime cases and have been upheld by courts as fully constitutional.
Under the Patriot Act, the government can ask a federal court to order production of the same type of records available through grand jury subpoenas. Enforce the requirement that the government prove that the records sought are for an authorized investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information provided that such investigation of a U.S. person is not conducted solely on the basis of activities protected by the First Amendment.
Criminal Justice
Funding for law enforcement and the criminal justice system should be appropriate for the problems being addressed, including shifting resources to health services and intervention.
6. Ensure investigators use all available tools to investigate organized crime, drug trafficking and to surveil legitimate terror threats, both foreign and domestic.
7. Ensure that investigators are legitimately gathering information when looking into the full range of terrorism-related crimes.
8. Justify and monitor legitimate roving wiretaps that are authorized by a federal judge when used in national or domestic instances, such as drug trafficking and terrorism.
11. Recognize white nationalist and QAnon groups as a security threat and take action to combat them through laws and regulations.
Law Enforcement Management and Accountability
Ensure all communities regardless of race, ethnicity, or immigration status receive fair and equitable policing.
Implement and enforce Policing Equity/Community Oriented Policing Services best practices.
Implement and fully fund Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) Programs statewide, that pair a mental
health clinician with a paramedic or emergency medical technician (EMT) to respond to low risk, low acuity calls.
Train law enforcement officers and other first responders to identify Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
(IDD) and mental illness emergencies, to call for appropriately skilled responders to deal with such emergencies.
Implement training programs that prioritize de-escalation training over combat training.
Eliminate discriminatory practices in policing.
Implement protections for employees reporting a colleague or filing a complaint, using third-party investigators.
Implement policies that eliminate suggestive identification procedures for eyewitness identification.
Revise policies that shield bad cops, including the curtailing or elimination of so-called “sovereign immunity.”.
Prohibit known members of “hate groups” such as white supremacists and neo-Nazis from serving as law
enforcement officers.
Develop state programs to help retain well-trained law enforcement professionals in less populated areas.
Juvenile Justice Reform
Eliminate zero tolerance policies in schools.
Establish state sponsored youth assessment centers to determine needs of student to determine appropriate
interventions prior to incarceration.
Juveniles should not be incarcerated for non-violent offenses.
Implement, fully fund, and enforce restorative justice and alternative sentencing.
Eliminate the ability of district attorneys to directly file a juvenile case into adult court without judicial review
and without an opportunity for defense or appeal.
Ensure that juveniles sentenced to life in prison are able to seek parole on a case-by-case basis with court
review.
Ensure that all juveniles have the right to a jury trial.
Implement effective violence and bullying prevention programs.
Fully fund and ensure that public schools have and use filters to prevent cyber bullying on school-owned
devices.
Community and Victim Support
Provide a continuum of resources and services for victims of crimes, including: notifications, shelter, counseling, and effective protection orders.
Ensure that all victim services are available regardless of whether a criminal case was filed.
Improve access to the courts for victims of negligence.
Protect those who enter the law enforcement/criminal justice system by identifying specific needs and bringing
in appropriate service agencies such as the ARC and those qualified to work with this demographic.
Criminal Defense
Ensure access to quality defense counsel for all those accused of a crime.
Eliminate onerous conditions of pre-trial release and cash bail for non-violent offenders.
End the practice of overcharging people to effect a plea-bargain.
Restore the right for people to vote while in custody and return all constitutional rights while on parole.
Establish parameters for informed consent for offenders and victims, considering age, mental health, intellectual
disability, and education.
Comply with habeas corpus.
Sentencing Reform
1. Abolish the death penalty federally.
2. Support comprehensive sentencing reform, including ending mandatory sentences and habitual criminal sentencing.
3.Reserve prison beds for those who pose a true danger to society and seek alternative sentences for others.
4. Ensure accountability for “white collar” offenders.
Prison Reform
Ensure safety of detained persons and provide access to rehabilitative programs.
Eliminate for-profit institutions and programs such as high-cost phone access, drug testing, and other services.
Evaluate and hold accountable all youth and adult correctional programs.
Significantly reduce solitary confinement and ban extreme sensory deprivation. Solitary confinement is not an
acceptable solution for safety.
Provide adequate treatment, rather than incarceration, for those with mental health issues.
Provide ongoing education of criminal justice personnel on dealing with specific issues of the offender.
Support workforce development and continuing education for detainees.
Marijuana and the War on Drugs
End the War on Drugs. Focus on treatment, not criminalization.
Amend banking laws to allow cannabis-related financial transactions.
Remove classification of cannabis as a schedule 1 substance.
Protect rights of cannabis patients and lawyers and other professionals who consult with cannabis-related businesses.
Prohibit drug testing unless there has been probable cause of a crime, specifically prohibit use for state and federal benefits. Prohibit drug testing unless there is probable cause that a crime has been committed.
Plant limits must be consistent with voter intent for both medical and recreational users of marijuana.
Expunge records of those arrested before legalization, release those now incarcerated for acts that are now legal
and remove barriers to industry participation based upon those now-legal acts.
No person should be denied state or federal benefits because of alleged drug use. Prohibit drug
testing/screening to determine eligibility.
Remove limits on the ability of cannabis patients to purchase medical cannabis.
Firearms and Gun Safety
Individual ownership should have common-sense regulation.
Ban all military-grade items or items for which hunting or personal protection is not reasonable.
Implement universal background checks.
Firearm users must be 21 and must demonstrate competency with firearms to purchase, own, carry, and use
independently.
Prohibit the possession and purchase of firearms by people who have violent criminal offenses or who are on a
terrorist watch list.
Permit only trained security personnel on K-12 and state college campuses.
Enforce extreme Risk Protection Order law, allowing families and law enforcement to seek a court order to
temporarily disarm someone who is a danger.
Law enforcement at all levels must enforce extreme risk protection orders (ERPO-Red Flag Laws).
Enact criminal penalties when adults fail to properly store firearms allowing someone to access.
Restrict firearm use in National Forest to designated areas.
Fully fund research on gun violence led by neutral agencies.
Demand that Congress pass laws imposing civil liability on manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, accessories, and 3D printed firearms (ghost guns).
Demand that Congress pass laws requiring manufacturers of firearms and/or ammunition, including 3D printed firearms be licensed to do so.
Demand that Congress pass laws mandating that all firearms, 3D printed firearms, guns (ghost guns) to be treated as firearms where the parts have serial numbers and are subject to a kits and parts used to make background check, including unfinished frames and receivers which are designed and marketed to be easily converted into firearms.
14. Require every owner and user of firearms to carry liability insurance.