Editorial: Colorado should return to presidential primary

Colorado deserves its place in the presidential process. More specifically, Coloradans deserve to have their voices heard as their political parties select delegates in favor of one presidential candidate or another.

The best way to do that is to abandon the ill-considered caucus system and return to a presidential primary.

The state ran presidential primaries in 1992, 1996 and 2000. But primaries are expensive, and the General Assembly opted to cut funding for the primary in a wave of budget cuts. Instead, Democrats and Republicans have opted for a caucus system that has — to say the least — been cumbersome, and participation has been lacking.

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The Denver Post reported recently that only 11 percent of registered Democrats participated in the March caucus, with only 5 percent of Republicans attending their party’s precinct gatherings. Republicans did not even vote on a presidential preference. Few people can afford the hours that the caucus process takes, meaning that a small minority of voters stated their preference on the Democratic side.

Party leaders from both sides seem to have gotten the message, with an effort under way to revive a presidential primary in 2020. Caucuses would continue to be held “to select delegates and qualify state and local candidates for the ballot,” the Post reports.

Meanwhile, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce is promoting a November ballot measure through a group called Let Colorado Vote to open the primary process to unaffiliated voters.

The issue of unaffiliated voters stating their preference in a presidential primary is an important question. About 1 million voters in Colorado currently are unaffiliated. We would prefer a system that allows independent voters to easily change their party affiliation.

But most important is creation of a presidential primary system that is adequately funded and provides an easy means for the state’s residents to state their presidential preference, that doesn’t require hours of caucusing and that boosts participation far higher than 11 percent of a party’s registered voters.

Colorado’s lack of a presidential primary means that the state is missing out on countless chances to hear from candidates, and to express Colorado concerns on a myriad of topics.  Opponents will once again argue about the cost — a president primary would cost $4 million to $5 million.

But being left out of the early stages of the presidential process is a far higher price.