Colorado's high court halted a Democrat-backed redistricting push, ruling the ballot proposals violated the state single-subject constitutional rule.
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday rejected three proposed ballot measures that sought to change the state’s congressional redistricting process ahead of the 2028 elections. The proposals, backed by a group called Coloradans for a Level Playing Field, were aimed at temporarily suspending Colorado’s independent redistricting commission-created by voters in 2018-and allowing voters to approve a new congressional map for the 2028 and 2030 election cycles. Two companion measures would have separately paused the commission and implemented new district boundaries. Had the initiatives qualified for the November ballot and been approved by voters, the revised congressional map would have taken effect for the 2028 elections.
Supporters argued the changes were necessary to redraw district lines, while opponents contended they would have significantly altered the state’s current redistricting process. In three separate opinions, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that each proposed measure violated the state’s constitutional “single subject” requirement, preventing them from moving forward, NBC News reported. “Changing the constitutionally mandated frequency of redistricting – however temporary the change – is not merely a mechanism to administer the new congressional district map,” Chief Justice Monica Marquez wrote in one unanimous decision. “Instead, it represents a seismic shift to Colorado’s longstanding redistricting process enshrined in the state constitution,” her opinion noted further.