Public Comments

The first proposed map is absolutely terrible. To carve out the city of Fort Collins into a district that stretches to the furthest southeastern corner of the state makes no sense. This city is solidly democrat and to put it into a solidly Republican district would be to take the voting voice away from one of the biggest cities in the state. I honestly cannot tell, after viewing this map, that this is supposedly drawn by an “independent commission,” because this seems gerrymandered to the same extent as the southern states in the US. Stop trying to get rid of democrats and their right to representation. The eastern and western parts of the state have so few people. Stop giving them the biggest voices.

On behalf of the citizens of Elbert County and as Chairman of our Board of County Commissioners, I oppose the most current map that indicates two west slope districts, both of which wrap around into the I25 corridor and an eastern district that incorporates urban areas will potentially leave the rural agricultural and energy-producing communities of interest in this state un (or under) represented. Please favorably consider the previous map with two wholely rural congressional districts (one the eastern plains, the other western slope) to ensure the voices of all Coloradans are heard in our nation's capital. Attached is our resolution adopted on June 6, 2021 regarding this matter.

I do not believe that when the government is attempting to infiltrate the conservative living in rural Colorado with liberal views. Park County is in no way anything like Boulder and attempting to redistrict in this manner is shameful and wrong!

Dear Redistricting Commission, First of all, thank you for your service. I am a resident of Douglas county and am concerned that my county, which is a metro area county, is currently slated to be part of a mostly rural Congressional Distrcit. This means that our issues related to living in a metro area, such as traffic, education, metro environment, etc. will not be heard at the the Congressional level. I urge you to place Douglas county in a distrcit along with it's Front Range neighbors. Thank you.

I viewed the map and it looks good to me. I am a Republican. You will never make everyone happy. I am hoping that this redistricting will allow some decent old school Republicans to get elected instead of the radicals...same with Democrats. I like districts that have a mix of people that makes any elected politician have to listen to everyone. Thank you for your hard work on this.

As I understand it, your new draft map of Congressional districts splits the Western Slope and gives greater weight to the Front Range Urban Corridor than it does to rural areas. Here's hoping you can fix that! Thank you - Bob Sweeney Estes Park

To: The Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission I would like to present a partial proposal for Congressional redistricting as described below and with attachments. I have generally attempted to follow the guidelines: • That districts have equal population (I varied slightly from this trying include whole counties and keep the district population within +/- 10% of the average.) • Are a contiguous geographic area and • Preserve whole political subdivisions (I attempted to keep whole counties within a single district. Unfortunately, this does not work for the Front Range.) Due to the population density variations between counties across the state, this is not always possible. “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” The information that I used was that the 2020 Census had Colorado’s population as 5,610,349 and eight (8) congressional districts resulting in an average district size of 701,294. In my approach, I attempted to split the state into four major areas of communities of interest: the Front Range, the Western slope, southern Colorado and Eastern Colorado. This approach is shown on the attached map. The distribution by county is shown on the attached spreadsheet as this the variance of the district populations from the average. With that in mind, here is how I reapportioned the state: 1st District — Easy. This is the City and County of Denver. The population is less than 1% greater than the average. 5th District — El Paso and Teller Counties. I grouped these together because there are shared community interests between the counties. This district population is 3% greater than the average. 3rd District — moving counter-clockwise around the state, this is the Western Slope. The Continental Divide is a natural, geographic boundary within the state. I was able to get 30 contiguous counties (shared communities of interest) in a single district, with a population that is 5% below the average district size. I did attempt to come up with a southern Colorado district but the population density just isn’t there with the constraint of eight (8) total districts. 2nd District — Larimer and Weld Counties. These two counties have a mutual community of interest represented by the Northern Colorado Economic Development Initiative. The population of this district is almost 93% of the average. 4th District — Eastern Colorado. Again shared community interests of agriculture and petroleum. Even though this district encompasses the Eastern third of the state, the population is only 57% of the average. At this point, the district would need to be increased by splitting some of adjacent districts. That leaves us with Districts 6, 7 and 8. I did NOT define these districts. They consist of the five (5) suburban metro-Denver counties plus two adjacent counties, Clear Creek and Gilpin, which have ties to the metro area. I would leave it up to the Commission to 1) define certain parts of these counties to increase the representation in District 4, Eastern Colorado and 2) to equally apportion the counties across the suburban districts 6, 7 and 8. Thank you for your consideration of this plan. Attachments: Map – “Colorado 2021 Redistricting Proposal 090721” Spreadsheet – “Colorado Counties by Population Pass Final.xlsx”

The idea that Boulder and Western Colorado have any mutual interests is absurd. This redistricting is totally unfair to those of us who live and work on the Western Slope. It is solely designed to give one party, the Democratic party, more power. Shame on the supposedly non-partisan Commission for suggesting this redistricting. I am a truly independent voter. I do not like the term "unaffiliated" but that is what I am. Roland McLean.

Initial redistrict plans go against rural Colorado. The Front Range is already adequately represented .

I am of the believe that prevailing party affiliation should never dictate district lines. This is only engenders a permanent minority, whose voices shall never truly be heard. Leave these district lines as they are, and as the population grows and changes within this district, this will allow majorities to develop organically, not artificially.