{"id":31141,"date":"2023-10-16T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-the-colorado-blue-book-gets-to-2-million-voters-in-the-state\/"},"modified":"2023-10-16T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T15:00:00","slug":"how-the-colorado-blue-book-gets-to-2-million-voters-in-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-the-colorado-blue-book-gets-to-2-million-voters-in-the-state\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Colorado Blue Book gets to 2 million voters in the state"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
A proof of the 2023 Colorado Blue Book. (Andrew Kenney\/CPR News)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Julia Jackson had checked and rechecked her work \u2013 but it\u2019s hard not to feel anxious when your work is about to be mailed to pretty much every household in the state of Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets harder to see stuff, the more you look at it,\u201d she told a colleague as they flipped through printed proofs together on a weekday morning in August.<\/p>\n

They were putting the final touches on the Blue Book, the preelection government publication that has become a central \u2013 and sometimes hotly contested \u2013 part of Colorado\u2019s political culture.<\/p>\n

Each year, nonpartisan government staffers like Jackson spend months drafting the publication, which provides information about the endless ballot initiatives that go before Colorado voters. In dry but generally straightforward language, the Blue Book has informed decades of Coloradans about everything from property taxes to psychedelic mushrooms.<\/p>\n

This year, the state had ordered some 2 million copies of the pamphlet from Publication Printers in south Denver, enough to mail a copy to the household of every active registered voter.<\/p>\n

At this late stage, Jackson and her co-workers had their eyes out for the last little details, like a misaligned page number.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a little further down than the rest of them,\u201d she said after spotting an offending numeral.<\/p>\n

But this was just the end of a long process, one that raises a question far bigger than typos and page numbering: In an age of polarization and misinformation, can the government publish something that\u2019s still perceived as neutral?<\/p>\n

A very Colorado challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

The idea for this story originally came from listener Emma Davis, who asked us through Colorado Wonders about how exactly the Blue Book comes to be each election cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI imagine it is pretty contentious, going back and forth, trying to figure out how to present the issues to the voters,\u201d said the 22-year-old CU Boulder student. \u201cI was just interested in how they figure out the right way to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The short answer is that nonpartisan legislative staffers are responsible for analyzing and summarizing each ballot initiative, a process that starts even before a measure is approved for the ballot.<\/p>\n

Their work then goes through a public review process, with proponents and opponents able to send in requests for changes. The draft is revised once or twice based on the feedback, and the final language is reviewed by a panel of state lawmakers \u2013 who can vote to make edits, but usually don\u2019t make substantial changes.<\/p>\n

That sounds cut and dried, but Davis is right: The creation of the Blue Book is a high-pressure, high-stakes situation. Since it\u2019s sent to every registered voter, the Blue Book has a reach far beyond the typical political campaign. It might be the only analysis a voter sees before they cast a vote about the state\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that we learned is people read it,\u201d said Michael Fields, a conservative campaign organizer. He thinks the pamphlet is an overall benefit to the state\u2019s politics, but he\u2019s had his qualms with it over the years.<\/p>\n

This year, the challenge of writing that neutral language was on full display with Proposition HH, the multipronged Democratic tax reform measure. It took a whopping 12 pages to explain all the nuances of it \u2013 one of the longest ballot entries staffers could remember \u2013 and the results still left conservatives somewhat unhappy. They felt that the document, while factually accurate, hadn\u2019t emphasized some of the tax implications enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great starting point,\u201d said Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen. But, he added: \u201cThe Blue Book doesn\u2019t have the answers. It doesn\u2019t have, in my opinion, deep detailed analysis that is necessary, especially with considering tax policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a particularly Coloradan challenge. Few other states even try to create neutral descriptions of ballot measures. Instead, some simply reprint arguments that are provided by proponents and opponents \u2013 with no attempt to offer a truly neutral description.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe responsibility for listening to stakeholders, researching the issue and developing the arguments, getting feedback on those arguments, is kind of a huge responsibility and something that we take really seriously,\u201d said Cathy Eslinger, research manager for Legislative Council Staff, which produces the Blue Book.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s approach is challenging, but it comes with real benefits for the public, argues Wendy Underhill, elections director for the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll say Colorado is at the top of states in their ability to communicate, and it is largely because of the Blue Book,\u201d said Underhill.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t even blue at first<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first edition of the Blue Book was published in 1954, although it didn\u2019t get that name until the iconic blue cover was added a couple years later.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a 1956 booklet here that\u2019s in blue,\u201d Eslinger said as she reached into a filing cabinet at the state Capitol. \u201cAnd I think that was to make it distinguished.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blue Book in those early days had the same mission but a different style.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the analysis, especially during the 1970s and \u201880s, was very dense and thorough, and obviously we\u2019ve had to adapt to reader\u2019s needs,\u201d Eslinger said. Early editions were also smaller \u2013 more of a booklet to today\u2019s book.<\/p>\n

But the biggest change of all?<\/p>\n

The Blue Book wasn\u2019t actually mailed out to voters until the mid-1990s. Before then, only a couple hundred thousand copies were printed each year. If you wanted to read one, you could find it at libraries, local government offices, political party outposts and sometimes even grocery stores.<\/p>\n

That all changed because of TABOR. Passed in 1992, the new Taxpayer\u2019s Bill of Rights included a requirement that the state mail out pro and con arguments for each ballot measure \u2013 with no attempt to create a neutral summary. TABOR supporters argued that the government shouldn\u2019t be taking such an active role in explaining citizens\u2019 initiatives.<\/p>\n

That approach worried Democrats and others, who preferred the existing strategy of offering neutral language. So they took the fight back to the ballot box. In 1994, voters approved an amendment that enshrined the Blue Book in the state constitution and ensured that it would now be mailed by the millions. (The amendment passed by a narrow 1% margin.)<\/p>\n

Today, the Blue Book represents the work of dozens of staffers in a monthslong process. This year\u2019s print run totaled 2,094,000 at a cost of just more than $1 million. In some years with longer ballots and longer Blue Books, the total can run more than $3 million.<\/p>\n

Revise and revise again<\/strong><\/p>\n

The process starts long before the ballot is finalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe watch it from the very beginning,\u201d Eslinger said. That includes meeting with proponents even as they are still drafting the ballot language.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t tell proponents how to write the measure. We raise questions for them to consider,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then the proponents can take those comments or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citizens aren\u2019t the only ones who can start initiatives; state lawmakers also can put their own questions on the ballot with a vote of the legislature. Either way, legislative staff have to research and summarize them.<\/p>\n

In some years, the ballot is relatively light. The 2023 election will have only two ballot initiatives \u2013 largely because TABOR says only certain tax-related questions can run in odd-numbered years. But even years are generally far more intense \u2013 the recent record is 14 questions on the ballot for both 2006 and 2008.<\/p>\n

No matter their number, each measure goes through the same process. Legislative staffers start by interviewing supporters and opponents and conducting their own research as they write a first draft of the Blue Book language. The booklet is mostly analytical, but also includes a summary of pro and con positions.<\/p>\n

That first draft is posted on the internet and emailed to anyone who has expressed interest. The legislative staff then accepts public comment and, with those suggestions in mind, develops a second draft within a couple weeks.<\/p>\n

That review and revision process might be repeated again before the final draft is prepared. The goal, according to legislative staff guidelines, is to focus on the \u201cmost important points of a measure\u201d in \u201clanguage a layperson can understand,\u201d while also avoiding \u201cslogan-type language.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach has won the publication some fans in the general public. In one recent year, the staffers got a letter from Nebraska \u2013 turns out the sender had moved and missed the Blue Book.<\/p>\n

When the politicians get involved <\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

Often, the biggest controversies around the Blue Book surface at one of the final stages in its creation. After the nonpartisan staff finish their draft \u2013 well, that\u2019s when the politicians get their say.<\/p>\n

The legislature\u2019s Legislative Council committee, a panel of both representatives and senators that reflects the political makeup of each chamber, gets the final review of the language. And if a supermajority wants, they can make revisions to the final language of the book.<\/p>\n

In 2020, politicians made substantial edits to how the Blue Book described Amendment B, the successful effort to repeal the so-called Gallagher limits on property taxes. The proposal had been placed on the ballot with bipartisan support from lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the most unfair things is that the legislature has a say in it when they\u2019re putting stuff on the ballot. So it\u2019s like they\u2019re the cops on it, but they\u2019re the ones pushing that measure in the first place,\u201d Fields said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t happen that often where they\u2019ve changed stuff, but it was a big deal when it happened in the Gallagher repeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, conservatives had the opposite complaint: The lawmakers on the panel refused to make changes requested by Republicans.<\/p>\n

For example, the Blue Book says Prop. HH \u201clowers\u201d the amount of property taxes that will be owed, which is true, at least compared to what they would pay under the current tax rates.<\/p>\n

But conservatives argued it would be more fair to say that it \u201cpotentially reduces the increase\u201d in taxes, since even with lower rates, many people\u2019s tax bills will still go up due to a hot property market.<\/p>\n

A subtle distinction? Sure. But conservatives said it\u2019s an example where the framing of an issue can shape how it\u2019s perceived by readers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe owe it to the people of Colorado to bring the breadth, the substance of the conversation to page one,\u201d said Lundeen, the Senate minority leader, at the hearing.<\/p>\n

Despite his complaints, Lundeen sees the Blue Book as an asset. The Republican wishes that Colorado didn\u2019t rely so heavily on direct democracy. But if we\u2019re going to have all these ballot measures, he said, it probably helps to try to provide neutral information to voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great starting point. I believe it does that well, and then you really need to dig in. You really need to do the research,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One last signature<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wendy Underhill, of NCSL, thinks that the Blue Book is exemplary \u2013 she gets excited when hers arrives in the mail each election season. But she says there\u2019s still a big question: Will a printed pamphlet be the right answer forever?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a young person who just moved into your new apartment, you might not be even checking your mailbox,\u201d she said. \u201cSo is getting a Blue Book mailed to you a good way to get information out? It depends on who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legislative staffers are already thinking about that question of the best way to reach people. The Blue Book has been published online for years, as well as in Spanish.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also edging into the digital age: This year, it includes its first-ever QR code. Readers who scan it can use their smartphones to easily navigate to an online calculator that will estimate their individual tax impacts from Prop. HH.<\/p>\n

Back at the publisher\u2019s office, the legislative staffers used their phones to confirm one last time that the QR link was working. It was. They took a final look over the gradients in the charts and the spacing of the copy. They opened the folder with the authorization forms that would set this much-debated and revised language in stone.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we ready to let go?\u201d Jackson asked. They were. They signed the forms and let out a cheer. \u201cOur work is done,\u201d proclaimed her colleague Erin Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Soon after, the presses would start running, the booklets would be bound, the mail trucks would be loaded \u2013 and, in a sense, the election would truly be underway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A proof of the 2023 Colorado Blue Book. (Andrew Kenney\/CPR News) Julia Jackson had checked and rechecked her work \u2013 but it\u2019s hard not to feel anxious when your work is about to be mailed to pretty much every household in the state of Colorado. \u201cIt gets harder to see stuff, the more you look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-31141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31141"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=31141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}