Motion to allow the Arapahoe Chair to accompany Chair Horn to deliver opt-out results

In Colorado State Republican Party Bylaws, the chair is directed to report the results of the opt-out vote to the Secretary of State on or before October 1st in odd-numbered years.

This motion was to name the Arapahoe County Chair to accompany Chair Horn in this activity. On one side, there is the suggestion that this vote would alter the Bylaws. On the other side, people are wanting a witness to this event - a very important event to all Republicans in Colorado.

00:00 - Introduction to the motion
11:11 - Return of the Teller Committee Chair
11:46 - Count of the yes votes
15:31 - Count of the no votes

Background:

What we are seeing here is really the lack of trust in play. A survey of the Republicans, they divide themselves into roughly two groups.

The "Establishment Republicans" often monetize their involvement in politics. Many will enter the election process through petitioning to gain ballot access. Many of those will not attend caucus or assembly and therefore never seek to gain approval of the Republican Voters. Those that get into office are often aloof. Some even push very hard for open primaries. Why? It drives up the cost of the primary by magnitudes. Many of these people pushing for open primaries make money in servicing the communication needs of the campaigns. Just inviting the unaffiliated voters to the table triples the potential revenue for these actors.

The "Grassroots Republicans" want to have a say in who they designate for the primary and believe that, by only being one third of the voice, they don't have that voice. A quick review of case law and SCOTUS opinions on First Amendment would suggest that the Colorado Open Primary scheme is a violation of the Constitutional rights of the Republican Party. The challenge is that once the Republican Party opts out, how do they manage the nomination process.

On the ground, politics in Colorado is very expensive. Designation to be listed in the primary has huge costs because the bulk of the potential participants are not even Republicans and outnumber the Republicans 2:1 and Democrats are facing the same issue.

The dark truth is that since 2016, when the open primary scheme was put into law, the participation in the primary process has fallen off a cliff for all parties and continues to trend downwards.