Celeste’s Priorities and Her Record on Election Issues

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Ballot access – “the rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy.” In other words,
“the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to
appear on voter's; ballots.” (Wikipedia) Sometimes confused with a voter’s ability to get,
read, understand, mark and cast a ballot. Ballot Access in Colorado:

https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/elections/Candidates/BallotAccess.html
 

Democracy – (from the Greek dēmos ‘the people’ + -kratia ‘power, rule’) a form of government
where people hold the power either through direct democracy, such as citizen
initiatives, or through electing government officials to represent the people in making decisions.

Disenfranchisement – the state of being deprived of a right or privilege, particularly being
deprived of the right to vote. Contrast with voter suppression.

Election subversion – the undermining of election results by an authority such as a legislature
which disagrees with the results of a fair election. A fair election is one lacking
improprieties or signs of fraud that might otherwise cast doubt on the results. The
January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was an attempt to get Congress to
subvert the Electoral College vote. Contrast with voter suppression.

Majority – more than half the total. If the total is 100, then anything more than 50 is a
majority. The total is an important part of the meaning of “majority.”

• Many people claim that Instant-Runoff Voting elections (see RCV below) result in a

majority winner, but the winner is only guaranteed to have a majority of “active votes”
in the final round.

• Also see “Compare majority-support in Boulder and Lafayette council election results"

Open primary – a primary in which any voter, regardless of party affiliation, can request and
vote any single party’s primary ballot. For instance, Minnesota has open primaries.

• Colorado’s elections are considered Open to Unaffiliated Voters because an unaffiliated

voter may vote any single party’s primary ballot (as long as the political party has not
voted to close their primary election to unaffiliated voters).

• An all-candidate primary (e.g., California’s Top-2 or Alaska’s Top-4 primary) is a single

primary with all candidates for the same office running against each other and allows all
voters to participate. A predetermined number of the primary candidates advance to
the general election.

• The Open Primaries organization works to empower unaffiliated voters in primary

elections, whether that is an open primary, an Open to Unaffiliated Voters primary or an
all-candidate primary.

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RCV (Ranked Choice Voting) – a term referring to any ranked voting method that allows for
rounds of counting in which the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and votes
for that candidate are transferred to the next-highest-ranked candidate on the ballot.
See “What is ranked choice voting anyway?”

• Most people using the RCV term are referring to the single-winner Instant-Runoff Voting

form of RCV.

• Colorado allows municipalities to use both Instant-Runoff Voting and a proportional

form of RCV. Proportional voting methods are widely regarded as the best way to elect
legislatures, councils, commissions and boards.

Voter suppression – a measure or strategy to reduce levels of voting or voter registration, often
targeted at a specific demographic, e.g., a racial group, political party, or religious
community. Contrast with election subversion and disenfranchisement.

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