DENVER — A judge rejected three Republican primary candidates' request to block unaffiliated voters from participating in the upcoming party primary election.
Former State House Rep. Ron Hanks, State Rep. Scott Bottoms and David Willson, a candidate for attorney general, filed the suit, claiming that allowing non-party voters to participate dilutes the votes of registered Republicans and violated the party's First Amendment rights.
In 2016, Colorado voters approved Proposition 108, which opened primaries to unaffiliated voters.
Judge Jon J. Olafson found the plaintiffs waited too long to file their lawsuit, noting that ballots had already been mailed to overseas military voters.
County clerks must mail ballots to military and overseas voters by May 16 for the June 30 primary.
He found "the plaintiffs did not sufficiently demonstrate individualized harm because the statistical analysis offered by the plaintiffs does not provide a reliable or credible basis for finding that unaffiliated voters change voting outcomes in primary elections."
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bottoms argued at a hearing Thursday May 14, "This is not going to hurt me. One way or the other, I'm going to win the primary ballot, but it will hurt our caucus state. We will hurt our constitutionality. We will hurt our First Amendment right to assemble and this will hurt Republicans all down the line in many different elections throughout the state."
The court found plaintiffs failed to satisfy the six required factors for granting a preliminary injunction under Colorado law. Those included failing to demonstrate individualized harm and irreparable injury.
The judge acknowledged that his analysis "could be substantially different if the interests at issue involved the general election."
Ballots will be automatically mailed to all active registered voters starting June 8.
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