DENVER – The Associated Press has announced that Former President Donald Trump is President-elect of the United States. Additionally, Colorado voters passed and denied a variety of measures, demonstrating the diversity and unique culture that Colorado politics has. Colorado voters have passed Amendment 79 and Amendment J, enshrining abortion rights in the Colorado Constitution and removing a same-sex marriage ban from our state constitution, but also two Propositions, 128 and 130, that propose allocating even more state funding to law enforcement. Voters also defeated Amendment 80, enforcing their commitment to keep public funding in Colorado’s public schools. 

The following statement can be attributed to Deborah Richardson, ACLU of Colorado Executive Director: 

“The return to power of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration could usher in a dark chapter of our country’s history. May we all find solace in the fact that Coloradans, however, alongside tens of millions of Americans, rejected the Trump administration’s actions and policies and continue to demonstrate diversity of thought, and a commitment to civil rights and our freedoms. 

“During the former President’s first term, our country weathered vehement anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies; attacks on our ability to access reproductive health care, and gender-affirming care; unprecedented repression of our right to peaceful assembly and protest; and outright assaults on fundamental democratic systems and norms. Though we have every reason to believe his second term will be more aggressive, we are prepared to meet these challenges head-on. 

“Over the last four years, the ACLU of Colorado has seized opportunities to bolster our commitment to our most cherished freedoms. By enshrining abortion rights into law; limiting local law enforcement cooperation with immigration enforcement; expanding access to gender-affirming care; implementing historic criminal legal system reforms; and continuing to conduct safe, secure, and accessible ‘gold standard’ elections, we have made it more difficult for President-elect Trump to enact the most extreme elements of his administration’s agenda in Colorado. 

“Coloradans passed Amendment 79 and Amendment J, further cementing the progress we have made over the last several decades in bolstering the rights of women, people who can get pregnant, and LGBTQ+ Coloradans. Regardless of what happens at the federal level, Coloradans can rest assured that their abortion rights and their freedom to marry a same-sex partner will be better protected from the whims of politicians. This victory was only made possible by the tireless effort of every partner, volunteer, and voter. 

“We also celebrate the defeat of Amendment 80, a deliberately vague measure that would have added a ‘right to school choice’ to our state’s constitution. The right to school choice has been established in Colorado since 1994. By rejecting Amendment 80, Coloradans blocked dark money interest groups from trying to create a pathway for public funding to go to private schools that at times discriminate against students based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or disability. 

“We will continue to fight back – in the courts, in the legislature, and alongside our communities. We have carried on this work for more than 70 years through both Democratic and Republican administrations and held them accountable. We have held the line against those who attempted to undermine Coloradans’ civil rights and civil liberties. 

“I reflect on the words of the late U.S. Representative John Lewis, ‘Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.’ 

“Now is the time for us to press forward and build a firewall of freedom, ensuring Colorado remains a just and equitable state for all.” 

The ACLU of Colorado is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in Colorado. Founded in 1952, the organization protects and expands for the civil rights and civil liberties of Coloradans through legal advocacy, legislation, and community organization. The ACLU of Colorado is a non-partisan organization that does not endorse candidates. 

Living while Black is a struggle. Our Black communities fight to be seen and heard in many aspects of life. We fought to be treated as humans and have our basic human rights respected. We fought to be a part of communities and to gain voting rights. We continue to challenge racial barriers and systemic inequality that still strip us of our civil rights and liberties to this day.

The Civil Rights Movement in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were giant steps forward for Black communities. The Voting Rights Act enabled Black people the right to register to vote and banned tactics that had for too-long kept Black people from ballot box.

However, the work done then has not fully protected the Black vote today. Nearly 60 years later, inequitable practices continue to negatively impact the Black vote.

Redistricting is still a tactic used to suppress Black and Latine voters. In Colorado, a state with some of the most robust voter protections in place, district lines were diluting the Black and Latine vote in one of the state's larger counties. El Paso County’s maps historically disenfranchised Black and Latine voters and in 2023, the ACLU of Colorado, along with community partners, put an end to the practice. El Paso County Commissioners adopted a fair map that will finally allow voters of color to use their voices and exercise their rights in future elections after receiving pressure from the ACLU and our partners.

A recent report from the Sentencing Project shows that racial disparities in incarceration are also diluting the political voice of people of color in Colorado. According to the report, Black Coloradans are banned from voting at a rate seven times that of white Coloradans due to imprisonment. This year, a new law, SB-72 — Voting for Confined Eligible Electors, passed in Colorado that requires all 61 jails and detention centers in the state to do in-person voting for general elections. The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, a local non-profit that is a trusted partner of the ACLU of Colorado, led the charge behind this legislation to give eligible voters expanded access to their right to vote while incarcerated which should help to close that gap.

Our vote is our power, yet a large number of Black voters are not using it, many due to the barriers they face in accessing their voting rights.

In 2020, it was reported in Colorado that our racial gap in voter turnout sits at 18.7% which is six points greater than the national average. It was also reported by the African American Research Collaborative in 2022 that on average the Black community has a higher voting rate in the Presidential elections than any other that effect Colorado directly.

In the most recent research, the U.S Census Bureau reported that in 2022, Black voters were underrepresented by 1.6 percentage points nationally which is a greater underrepresentation for this group than in the previous three congressional elections.

Colorado’s Black voters must have a say in issues important to their community such as racial justice, privacy and technology — which has a reputation of error when it comes to facial recognition in people of color — and criminal justice reform because, historically, the system has disproportionately targeted communities of color.

Ballot measures can result in life altering decisions for Colorado’s communities of color and that is why the vote of every Coloradan is vital.