Public Comments

Together with my collaborators Daryl DeFord, Beth Malmskog, and Flavia Sancier-Barbosa, we have written an addendum to our first report and posted it to our website at https://coloradoincontext.wordpress.com/. This report was requested by the Colorado Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission and is focused on an ensemble analysis for the State Senate and House districts. It also includes a comparison of the ensemble to the Final Approved Plans, as well as to several of the other final plans that were under consideration, with respect to minority representation, competitiveness, and partisan seat share.

Good evening. I am currently a high school senior at Montgomery Blair High School in Maryland, and I'm taking a specialized statistics course taught by the person who created the likely-to-be-accepted Montgomery County Council Map. He has taught each of us how to create redistricting maps, and I chose to recreate Colorado's congressional map with the goal of creating an independent map. I feel that I have created a map that accurately reflects each of the important parts of the redistricting process, while building upon some aspects that are highly valued within the commission. I would first like to touch on the Voting Rights Act. Colorado cannot have a Hispanic majority district, but I feel that the increasing diversity of Colorado should be further recognized. This is why I have included a majority-minority district (CO-7) in my proposed map (from both an overall population and voting age population standpoint), while the current staff-approved plan lacks such a district. My map does a far better job at preserving communities of interest. I notice that the approved map splits about a dozen counties, while my map keeps all but three counties whole: Arapahoe, El Paso, and Larimer County. There are also a set of guidelines and recommendations (attached below) for the commission to consider while drawing their map, and my map keeps all of those intact. As for compactness, I ran the numbers and got that my average Reock score was .40681 while the staff-approved plan's average Reock score was .40125, a difference of .00556. For the Polsby-Popper test, my map has an average score of .29860 compared to the staff-approved .26625, a .03235 difference. Finally, the commission should maximize the number of competitive districts. It comes to my attention that your map only features a single pure toss-up district, while mine contains two. My toss-up districts are also election-dependent: in the 2020 Colorado senate election, my second district would have voted for Cory Gardner (R) while my eighth would have voted for John Hickenlooper (D). The 2018 gubernatorial election demonstrates a role reversal: CO-2 would have voted for Jared Polis (D) but CO-8 would have voted for Walker Stapleton (R). This sensitivity by election truly highlights the competitiveness of these districts and allows for Democrats to take solid control of the state (6-2) or Republicans to even it up (4-4) in a given midterm. Considering that the state is roughly D+10, this is fair for both parties. I thank you for reading through and considering the points that I have made here. If there is anything else that you like to see about my map, or something that you would like me to fix, please let me know and I will send it your way.

I am very concerned about Loveland and Fort Collins being split into two separate districts. I live in Fort Collins, but my neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods are in the Loveland school district. I feel like the residents of South Fort Collins are going to be misrepresented and marginalized for the next decade.

Please do not allow members Hunter and Aislynn interfere with the commission's independent status, by trying to overturn the final maps in favor of new maps that favor Republicans. Please be fair. --Paula

Really? Everything voters sought in 2020 - non gerrymandered districts - is being potentially tossed over by two commissioners? UNACCEPTABLE! Please toss the maps proposed by Commissioners Barnett and Kottwitz and support maps drawn by nonpartisan staff.

The spirit of the Amendments Y and Z were to eliminate gerrymandering by creating a tri-partisan committee of Republican, Democrats and Unaffiliated members. However, the Unaffiliated members appear to all side with the Republican members of your redistricting committee. Additionally, it appears that two very partisan individuals Hunter Barnett and Aislinn Kottwitz are looking to insert last minute changes to the Supreme Court in a manner against transparency, and the very spirit of amendments Y and Z. Please do not let unregistered lobbyists or others with insincere motives succeed in preventing fair and balanced elections in Colorado. CD3 has already been affected over the last 10 years by a Republican gerrymandered U.S. House district. To have a Republican gerrymandered district last for 20 years is not only unreasonable but against the very purpose of "independence" behind amendments Y and Z, and how these measures were disclosed to voters in 2018. Candidates, regardless of party, should all have a fair and equal chance. Please reject any changes to the proposed maps. Thank you.

As a registered voter in Chaffee County, I strongly object to Representatives Kottwitz and Barnett's attempts to gerrymander Colorado's legislative districts in favor of a permanent Republican majority. Any attempt to eliminate my vote or render it useless is something I cannot stay silent about. Colorado's new legislative districts should be formed by a non-partisan committee, not a pair of self-interested obstructionists.

Statement delivered to the Colorado Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission October 12, 2021 I wish to gratefully thank the nonpartisan staff and my fellow colleagues on the commission for coming together and demonstrating how ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things. I know firsthand the immense sacrifice this has been for each of you, your families, and your support network. When I applied to be a commissioner, I had pledged to the citizens of Colorado to deliver on the requirements of the state constitution to the best of my abilities. I declared that my goal was to ensure that the inaugural commission would become the gold standard for independent redistricting commissions in the nation. I believe we have accomplished that goal. I especially want to thank the public for being partners on this journey to create fair maps and it was an honor to serve the State of Colorado. When I was chosen to be your commission chairman, I then made a second pledge. I said I would bring my organizational skills to serve you and to help you accomplish your goals. This 12-person commission is the “A” team of Colorado. Given the opportunity, I would accept that role again. There are many good men and women who are looking at the proposed maps and thinking about whether they should use their talents to serve others by running for elected office. You have an unenviable decision before you. Don’t look at legislative districts as mere battle lines on a map. This is far too easy in this day and age of hyper-partisanship and zero-sum politics. Rather, look at the new maps as a gift of good government from us to solve problems and correct injustices for the citizens who live in your communities. I know well that your mission, as the commission has found, is made all the more impossible because we the people have geographically sorted ourselves into clusters of like-minded enclaves that have virtually nothing in common with others a few miles away. Frictionless mobility and the Internet have given rise to partisan bubbles and with it the vocabulary of “us” and “them”. The most recent surveys sadly indicate we agree on very little and that trust in our civic institutions is at an all-time low. Thus the paradox of our time: we are more divided yet more comfortable with people who think like us. Despite the strong gale winds of ideological divisions, always be mindful that there are real people who not only live in your district, but in faraway districts as well. Representatives of the people have a moral obligation to serve them all and to serve them wisely. This unaffiliated voter from the city of Colorado Springs now takes leave. Godspeed to all. Carlos Perez Colorado Springs, Colorado

Please do not let the proposed last-minute changes by 2 Republican members go through

Reject maps being pushed by Commissioners Barnett and Kottwitz and support maps drawn by nonpartisan staff!!! Republicans are not showing or acting in good faith!!