Greetings fellow Government by the People fans.
Last evening the Executive Committee of the Boulder County Democratic Party voted to ask the Governor and Secretary of State to host Boulder's voter-approved online petitioning on the State Voter Registration website, the simplest, least expensive and most secure way.
Here and below is the resolution:
Online petitions have been in the BoCo Dem's platform since 2018:
https://www.bocodems.org/2018-platform/ (Under "Healthy Democracy" it's "Call to Action" #11)
Besides avoiding spreading the virus, many reasons for online petitioning can be found by scrolling down at:
Please email the Governor and Secretary of State and ask them to do as the BoCo Dems request:
Jared@JaredPolis.com, jena.griswold17@gmail.com, ian.rayder@sos.state.co.us (Deputy SOS)
You might also email Boulder City Council and ask them to add their weight to our request:
Council@BoulderColorado.gov
It's been 18 months since Boulder voted 71-29% to put online petitioning in our City Charter. Since then, all kinds of lying, cheating and fraud have been stopping it from happening. I urge you to review the evidence I've put at
Tinyurl.com/PetitionStory
Since the virus struck, recent Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and several local political leaders have contacted me and are trying to make this happen in their states and communities. Online petitions will make ballot initiatives as easy as in Switzerland, where they vote usually FOUR times a year, typically on about 15 national, regional and local issues each time: tinyurl.com/SwissDirect.
All the 800-pound gorillas who now control most US governments are quaking behind their masks.
Thanks for your help getting online petitions this far. The clock has "struck 13" several times in this fight showing God and his virus are on our side!
Evan
Text of the Resolution:
Resolution: Online Petitions Submitted by Evan Ravitz eravitz@gmail.com
Doc Status: Final | Last Updated: 5/2/2020 | Version: 0.2 URL: http://bcdp.co/20200414-R1
Key Document Updates
· 5/13/2020: Passed by EC majority vote
· 5/2: 1st two WHEREAS causes updated, final text ready for EC meeting
· 4/13: Submitted to Resolution Committee for feedback
· 4/13/2020: Document created
WHEREAS, passing paper petitions has been halted across the country due to the danger of spreading the Coronavirus.
WHEREAS, in 2018 the citizens of Boulder approved 71-29% a charter amendment to allow online petitioning for initiatives and referenda and authorized the Boulder City Council to implement this system.
WHEREAS, the City of Boulder’s current plan is to verify voters’ endorsements using the voters’ phone numbers, an approach will be both expensive, because it requires the City to create its own specific software, and a failure, because few voters will use it because it exposes their phone numbers to robocallers and other solicitors by requiring that they put them in the Secretary of State’s publicly available data base.
WHEREAS, the Secretary of State and the Boulder County Clerk have refused to allow online petitioning in the simplest, cheapest, and most secure way, which is to implement it on a page on the existing SOS voter registration website. This approach would allow voters to sign in using their driver's license numbers or last 4 digits of their social security number, which are already on record in the state voter registration database, and then read and endorse petitions in the security of their home, etc.
WHEREAS, this approach is already in use in Arizona's online candidate petition system and in 39 states' voter registration systems.
WHEREAS, this online approach can be adjusted so that jurisdictions are not overwhelmed with petitions by increasing the required number of signatures, requiring some fraction to be on paper petitions, or other approaches.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Boulder County Democratic Party requests that the Secretary of State implement this approach as soon as possible. In addition, the Boulder County Democratic Party requests that the Governor request that the Secretary of State implement online petitioning for Boulder and other places in the state if they so desire, using an executive order if that is appropriate. And otherwise the Governor should work with the Legislature to have them put this on the ballot for voters to approve as an amendment to the Colorado Constitution this November.