Public Comments

I am 80 years old, a Veteran, and a long term voter, Mostly as a Democrat but I look closely at candidates and issues. Please do not let lobbists even partisen members of your committee push for undemocratic districts. To get the best candidates and elected officials we need races to be competitive and reflective of the needs of Colorado. I have lived in SW Colorado for the past 24 years and before that in Denver. We have a great state with good government we need to keep it that way. Thank you for your good and difficult work, Raymond P. Finney Pagosa Springs

Hello, I have lived in Wheat Ridge for the last year and I am writing to express my concern with the 3rd staff plan for legislative maps surrounding their impact on minority populations statewide. Although part of the criteria for drawing legislative districts is to "Maximize the number of politically competitive districts," I feel that the 3rd staff map has focused too heavily on this criteria to the detriment of the competing criteria for which they may not be drawn for the purpose of "denying or abridging the right of any citizen to vote on account of that person's race or membership in a language minority group, including diluting the impact of that racial or language minority group's electoral influence." Ultimately, the difference between purposefully impacting someone and inadvertently impacting them is irrelevant as the impacted parties are affected either way. So, semantics aside, it is reasonable to read that criteria to mean that it is also an infringement of this criteria if the map inadvertently causes the denying or abridging of one's right to vote. Therefore, I am writing to indicate my support for the maps put forth by CLARRO over the 3rd staff legislative maps. CLARRO's maps still maximize the number of competitive districts upon a more balanced approach with not impacting one's right to vote. CLARRO's maps accomplish this by approaching communities of color, and thereby communities of interest, more holistically; by looking at both the percentage of a single community of color as well as a combination of other communities of color and white crossover within a given district. As an individual who would be considered a white crossover, identifying as both white and Hispanic, it is important that even if my own district would not be considered an effective minority district, that there are as many of those districts statewide that would be able to send individuals to congress to represent our overlapping concerns. CLARRO's maps, in comparison to the less favorable 3rd staff plan maps, increase the number of effective minority districts statewide by taking this more holistic approach and, therefore, I believe, reflect Colorado, and Colorado's heritage, better overall and still maintain an effective balance of all the criteria for legislative redrawing.

Please say no to the gerrymandered maps that Republican re-districting commissioners are trying to push forward and support instead the maps created and submitted by the independent member's of the commission who have presented far less absurdlyu slanted revisions. Sincerely, William Lakish

RE: House District 25 It's slightly out of balance population wise and could easily be tweaked to better reflect communities of interest. I have enclosed an attachment that addresses both issues and proposes some minor tweaks.

Dear Commissioners, Please reject maps that are subject to undisclosed GOP lobbying and Support nonpartisan staff plans. We need to have maps that reflect all the voters in a county or district so that all of our citizens are fairly represented. Thank you, Karen

Dear Commisioners, Thank you for all that you do. It has come to my attention that a couple of Republicans are trying to make some last minute changes to the redistricting maps. Lately it seems that last minute actions performed by Republicans are often acts of desperation and are performed for a certain segment of the population. Understandably controlling things is an enticing idea. However, I am asking that you reject maps being pushed by Commissioners Barnett and Kottwitz and support maps drawn by nonpartisanstaff. Thank you Stay safe, Susan Aubin

Reject the maps being pushed by Commissioners Barnett and Kottwitz developed outside the redistricting commissions and support maps drawn by nonpartisan staff. td

Our community is struggling with growth. The population is changing. Fisher's Peak just became a national park, and we love our lake and river. We don't want redistricting done to favor any political party. It should be done by non-biased people that are interested in what will benefit everyone. We have both major political parties invested here, keep redistricting fair and neutral. The town is going through some big growing pains right now. We need community consent.

To Whom it Concerns: The Independent Redistricting Commission is supposed to be just that, right? INDEPENDENT! So how how it is possible for two Republicans on that Colorado Redistricting Commission to devise and push their own gerrymandered maps for the redrawn Legislative and Congressional districts? This should not even be an issue, a threat to the voters' wishes that this redistricting effort be independent from political interference , but it seems to be just that. I am asking/even demanding that the Republican generated redistricting maps be REJECTED thoroughly and immediately.

I voted for a nonpartisan commission to conduct redistricting for my state of Colorado and I have been proud that this is the path the state's citizens chose to follow. I have paid attention to the commissions work and its seemingly successful conclusion. Now I understand there is a last minute effort by some commissioners to throw out that work and make a last minute switch for a more politically motivated map. If you allow that to happen you will disenfranchise the citizens who are trying stabilize our democratic system by shoring up the institutions that make democracy work, as intended by our state and federal constitutions. I urge you to reject these last-minute politicized maps and to stay the course for nonpartisanship, as the majority of the citizens of Colorado have mandated.