Proposition 131, which aims to change the way COs vote for candidates, is projected to fail.

DENVER — Colorado voters rejected a major effort to overhaul how future elections in the state will be conducted as Proposition 131 was projected to fail on Thursday.

Decision service headquarters planned Proposition 131 will fail as the Colorado Secretary of State’s website showed unofficial results of 54.88% against and 45.12% in favor of the proposal.

• Decision Desk Headquarters is tracking Colorado’s congressional race and voting results in the interactive map below.

Colorado Proposition 131, placed on the ballot by citizen initiative, aims to/will change the way voters choose candidates in primary and then general elections.

In an all-candidate primary, voters—regardless of their political affiliation—will choose from candidates from all parties on a single ballot.

According to Denver Decides, the top four candidates will then advance to the general election, which will be ranked by voters and the winner will be selected after multiple votes are counted.

New Election Process under Proposition 131 will influence elections for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Colorado Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer and other statewide positions.

Colorado’s current “semi-closed” election process allows a party’s registered voters and unaffiliated voters to vote in that party’s primary.

FOLLOW THE 2024 ELECTION LIVE BLOG DENVER7

The top four vote-getters in the all-candidate primary will then move on to the general election, where voters will rank their choices in order of preference.

In ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates based on their preferences. To be declared the winner, a candidate needs a majority of more than 50%.

If no candidate gets it in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. The ballots of voters who supported the eliminated candidate will still be counted. Their vote will simply go to their next choice.

This process continues until someone gets a majority of the votes.

Several key Colorado legislators from both parties supported Proposition 131, including U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, Governor Polis, the mayors of Denver and Aurora, and former Congressman Ken Buck.

Proposition 131 would not apply to presidential races or votes for district attorney or other local government positions.

The change was due to take effect in 2026.

“Colorado’s gold standard elections are the best in the country. Proposition 131 would sacrifice the safety and security of our election system to the whims of special interests and large corporations whose pay-to-play tactics would flood the state with even more dark money,” said Shad Murib, Chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party. Party on Tuesday night. “We look forward to a more thoughtful and community-focused conversation about opportunities to protect our democracy and reduce the influence of dark money in our politics.”

Linda Templin, executive director of Ranked Choice Voting For Colorado, also issued a statement.

“It’s gratifying that Coloradans voted against a measure that would have limited ballot access for grassroots candidates,” she said. “Unfortunately, ranked choice voting was not his own measure. We hope to build a more responsive democracy in local elections and implement a clean RCV measure in the future.”

The Institute for Responsive Government — a nonprofit that works to “make government more effective, accessible, and responsive to the needs of real people” — said states considering ranked choice voting “must have a well-funded, well-designed, and sustainable system.” voting.” implementation plan—and, critically, the support of election administrators who will oversee its implementation—to counter these challenges,” said Sam Oliker-Friedland, executive director of the Responsive Government Institute.