Politics and elections have been part of Celeste’s life since her childhood when her father ran for local offices in Louisiana.  In the last 13 years, she has focused on the right to vote, better representation and election integrity.

• Celeste worked to institute more reasonable levels of signature requirements for candidates petitioning onto a ballot.

• Celeste has led county and state nonpartisan groups dedicated to educating people about and advocating for better voting methods so the electorate need not be limited to choosing the “lesser of two evils” and can have better representation. 

• Celeste has been a volunteer lobbyist at the state Capitol on election bills, at the Title Board on election initiatives, and at Secretary of State rulemaking hearings on election rules. 

• Celeste introduced then-candidate Joe Neguse to the U.S. Fair Representation Act (FRA), which Rep. Neguse has subsequently co-sponsored in every session.  Passing the FRA would make gerrymandering congressional seats impossible!

• Celeste has gotten into the electoral weeds, working to end

  • disenfranchising our youngest primary-election voters (as the result of a questionable interpretation of Amendment 76),

  • delaying the writing of rules for proportional ranked voting, required in Colorado statute since 2008,

  • the misleading reporting of election results in multi-winner ballot contests, such as some city council contests, and

  • unconstitutional bills that disenfranchise voters based on political party in elections to fill a seat.

• Celeste attends a weekly meeting of national election integrity experts which weighs in on topics such as the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s Voluntary Voting System Guidelines.

• Celeste organized a panel entitled “Voting: A Right and a Duty?” with national speakers on a constitutional affirmative right to vote and on universal civic-duty voting.

When Celeste is not working on election issues, she enjoys hiking, cycling, reading, cooking, playing bridge, watching movies, getting together with friends and family, and traveling.