2020 Voters Will Vote In 'Super Tuesday' Primary, Not At Caucuses

DENVER, CO — The 2020 presidential primary in Colorado will be decided by popular vote on March 3 or "Super Tuesday" Gov. Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Tuesday.

This will be the first presidential election year in which unaffiliated voters will be allowed to vote in the Democrat and Republican primaries.

In 2016, voters approved Proposition 107, which restored primary elections in Colorado in presidential election years. For the past 20 years, the state Democratic and Republican parties have chosen presidential candidates via the local caucus system.

“We are proud of 2018’s record turnout, as well as Colorado’s status as a leader on voting rights," Gov. Polis said in a statement. "We hope to build on that momentum by participating in a primary along with other Super Tuesday states to ensure that all major candidates listen firsthand to the concerns of Colorado voters.”

Griswold, in a press release, called the restoration of the primary system the key to "a secure and accessible presidential primary [that will] give Coloradans the opportunity to create the future we imagine."

The 2016 presidential primary election was tumultuous for Colorado voters, especially Republicans. The state GOP party cancelled the primary caucuses when it became clear that Donald Trump was likely to receive the party's nomination. The Democratic party caucuses in 2016 saw record-breaking crowds as younger Bernie Sanders supporters flooded the March 1 primary to give Sanders a 10-point lead against rival Hillary Clinton. Sanders later lost to Clinton at the 2016 Democratic Convention.

Unaffiliated voters in Colorado participated in their first primary for statewide races in the June 26, 2018 election. In that election, unaffiliated voters received both a Democratic and Republican ballot in the mail, with instructions to return only one. The Secretary of State's office engaged an education campaign to make sure unaffiliated voters didn't accidentally eliminate their ballots.

With more engaged unaffiliated voters, turnout in the 2018 general election reached 66.06 percent, one of the highest levels in the U.S. on a non-presidential election year.