Q. Do any other major cities in Colorado have a system like the one proposed in 2G?

A: Not that we know of. Those municipalities that split their At Large seats generally run them in different, staggered years. The Denver Clerk suggested doing that in this case, but his suggestion was not adopted, leading to a confusing, untested system that doesn't resemble anything we're familiar with in other major municipalities in Colorado.

Q. Who supports 2G and who opposes it?

A: The Republican Party and big business groups are advocating for a YES on 2G. The Democratic Party, labor unions, community groups and local leaders have endorsed a NO on 2G -- see the full list here.

Q. Why would this mean more big money in Denver elections?

A: In short, if you double the number of elections a candidate has to win by adding a runoff election, you double the opportunities for big money to flood in and attempt to game the results. In the At Large seats, Denverites have elected many impactful progressive grassroots candidates over the years - including women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community - in no small part because the current system gives an advantage to candidates in our city who have deep community connections over those who have deep pockets. The giant corporate interests who like to try to buy elections at every other level of government really don't like that, and want to change the rules so that their big spending can have more impact on the results of the At Large races.

Q. Why would this cost the city more money?

A: First of all, this could force additional citywide runoff elections, and as you can imagine it costs a lot to print ballots and mail them to half a million Denverites. According to the Denver Elections Division, administering both the 2023 general and runoff elections cost taxpayers a minimum of $4 million. Secondly, it means a whole lot more money coming out of the Fair Elections Fund for At Large races, too. As former Councilmember Robin Kneich put it in her newsletter, "Denver’s operating budget–the same one currently facing a $250 million shortfall–will have to divert more dollars to the Fair Election Fund to pay out significantly more for 4 elections worth of candidates (2 seats x 1 general + 1 runoff) than it does today for 1 field of candidates in 1 election."

Q. What about getting to a majority of voters?

A: For most of our elections in Colorado, whoever is the top vote-getter in the election just wins, even if it's under 50%. That's how our races for Congress, Governor, School Board, and the state legislature all work. And the vast majority of municipalities in Colorado don't have runoffs at all -- just like our Federal and state elections, they only run one election, and the top vote getter wins, no matter what the percentage of the vote is. Denver's runoff system is what's different than most other elections in Colorado, and currently the At Large races are the ones that actually work more like the rest of our elections in Colorado.