Passage of Amendments Y and Z gives Western Slope 'a seat at the table'

Mesa County has often been skeptical of constitutional change and this proved true on election day 2018. Mesa County voted against most of the other constitutional measures, but over two thirds of our voters supported Y and Z.

This win puts Colorado in a position that the rest of the nation will be watching as they determine their own solutions to the 200-year-old practice of gerrymandering — something that is now expressly outlawed in our state's constitution.

Independent commissions, consisting of four Republicans, four Democrats and four unaffiliated voters, will oversee the map-drawing processes for congressional redistricting and legislative reapportionment.

For the first time, Colorado has set a standard that gives unaffiliated voters an equal voice and an equal seat at the table on an issue that greatly impacts our democracy. We have enshrined the protections for minority voters from the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in our state constitution. The Western Slope is guaranteed a "seat at the table" in each of these Commissions. And we will see more competitive districts that will hold representatives more accountable to their constituents.

We are proud to have supported this campaign from the very beginning. It was an incredible cooperative effort and collaboration on something we all realized was important.

Now that these measures have passed, we look forward to the 2020 Census. Once that is completed, Coloradans will be allowed to apply to serve on these commissions, which will be balanced between Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters. We've designed the process to encourage regular citizens —not politicians —to consider serving.

It was inspiring to work on an initiative that encompassed all political perspectives. And we hope this is the beginning of more bipartisan teamwork in our state legislature. After all, both measures were referred to the ballot without a single "no" vote. This proves Colorado is a state focused on the good of its voters and not its politicians.

We know the rest of the country will be watching as we work through our first round of redistricting, and hope they will be encouraged to work across party lines to do the right thing for their states as well.

Kathleen Curry is a former independent state representative, and Bernie Buescher is a former Colorado Secretary of State.