A secret ballot system at Colorado’s statehouse is quietly killing bills and raising transparency concerns
Article publisher:
KUNC
Article date:
12 October 2022
Article category:
Colorado News
Medium
Article Body:
Democrats who control the state legislature are increasingly using a survey they fill out in secret to help determine whether bills live or die. The results are kept from the public, raising questions about transparency and potential violations of the state’s sunshine law.
Each April, lawmakers click on a personalized link to the anonymous survey. They then use digital tokens to vote for the bills they think should get a piece of the budget each year....
It’s called quadratic voting....
But the off-book voting system has become part of the fabric of decision-making, and some lawmakers and government transparency advocates are sounding the alarm....