Colorado Becomes the Most Recent State to Enact a State Voting Rights Act
On Monday, May 12, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Colorado Voting Rights Act (COVRA) into law.
By enacting this legislation, Colorado took crucial steps to protect its residents from discrimination at the ballot box and safeguard their freedom to vote. Coloradans now have expanded state-level protections to combat voter suppression and vote dilution, increased language access through multilingual ballots, and a public database for centralized election data.
Colorado is the eighth state in the last decade to enact a State Voting Rights Act, joining others that have recently approved similar legislation, including Minnesota in 2024, Connecticut in 2023, and New York in 2022. A new State Voting Rights Act has been codified into law every year since 2018 (excluding 2020 during the pandemic).
These laws are increasingly necessary as we see escalating attacks on the right to vote targeting Black communities, communities of color, and voters with disabilities — attacks that include efforts to skew district lines to dilute Black representation, increasingly strict voter ID laws, and closing polling places and ballot drop boxes to decrease accessible methods of voting. SVRAs are also especially critical given the current state of the federal Voting Rights Act, which was significantly weakened following two damaging Supreme Court decisions: Shelby v. Holder (2013) and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee (2021).
Amid these challenges, State Voting Rights Acts represent the most significant step states can take to protect our democracy — and each one’s passage should be considered historic and laudatory.
So, what specifically does the COVRA do?
It establishes robust protections against racial vote dilution and/or voter suppression.
It requires multilingual ballots in communities across the state to eliminate language access barriers for localities that serve voters with limited English proficiency.
It creates a public database for Colorado election and demographic data to foster transparent, evidence-based practices in election administration.
It provides new protections for LGBTQ+ voters, voters with disabilities, and eligible voters confined to county jails.
It instructs judges to interpret election laws in a pro-voter way whenever reasonably possible.
The COVRA will protect Colorado’s entire electorate, including more than 150,000 eligible Black voters. As we witness continuous attacks against our foundational right to vote, it’s more important than ever to enshrine protections for all voters into law — and State Voting Rights Acts are an integral way to do so.
THE COLOR: PEOPLE, PHOTOS, PERSPECTIVES
“We are thrilled to celebrate the passage of the Colorado Voting Rights Act and to see Colorado setting an example for other states to follow. Through enacting the COVRA, Governor Polis and the Colorado legislature have made clear that they are committed to defending voters from discrimination. As we work to defend Black communities from unlawful voter suppression and intimidation at a moment of great peril for our democracy, LDF and our allies need every possible legal tool, and we are encouraged that Coloradans will benefit from the COVRA’s critical protections.”
Janai Nelson, LDF President and Director-Counsel
“Colorado took a historic step in enshrining robust protections against discriminatory voting practices and policies. As we continue to see relentless attacks on voting rights at the federal level, we are grateful to Colorado’s leaders for taking bold and crucial steps to protect the right to vote.”
Michael Pernick, LDF Policy Counsel
THE RESOURCES
Why State and Federal Voting Rights Legislation Go Hand-in-Hand
State Voting Rights Acts: Protecting the Freedom to Vote and Building a Democracy that Works for All
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