About Us Page
This project officially began on February 2017 as just an Excel file and has since expanded to a Google Sheet and finally here in wiki format.
After the Women's March, participating in flash actions and various rallies, making phone calls and sending emails to MOCs, many of us started turning our thoughts and attentions towards the ultimate civil action--VOTING.
Musings naturally gravitate back towards the 2016 election; trying desperately to dissect it. Trying to assign blame, or otherwise trying to all together circumvent conflict. Yet none of those directly address what CAN NOW be done. November 2018 is close. November 2017 is practically tomorrow.
Many people believed they did everything "right". Being a registered voter, voting even in odd years, caucusing, donating to campaigns and causes, volunteering, etc. Despite
tens of millions of us doing what we all individually believed was "the right thing", whatever that may have been, Donald J. Trump still became our 45th President.
The conversation (and blame) turned to gerrymandering, which is true, but not in itself constructive. What can we DO? First of all, what IS
gerrymandering and HOW does it happen? Through this exploration of thought, many of us quickly realized we have to defend the
governorship, bolster our majority in the state house, reclaim the state senate, and start caring about who our councilmembers, mayors,
and county commissioners are (as city wards are redistricted and counties perform annexations and redraw precinct lines) so this may safeguard us against further gerrymandering and even reverse trends.
With this, came many questions. What can a movement that contains many political newcomers and amateurs actually DO? And HOW can it be
done?
Simply as a citizen looking to become more civic-minded, I found myself having to go to multiple sites to get basic data and to answer simple questions . This proved time-consuming.
I could not find a single site that had all this information ready and together. Others must be running into this issue themselves. Many people also specialize in specific interests, so a centralized location may potentially serve as a hub of information. I saw this as a way I could contribute to the community. As a means to help
other citizens be not only informed, but also to save time--a resource that has become all too precious now.
The hallmarks of this project since its conception and through its multiple evolutions has always been: Accessibility, Interactivity, and Adaptability.
Holding the integrity of the project accountable to those ideals rests absolutely on continual feedback from project editors and users alike.
See a flaw? Let's talk about it. See information that may be useful but isn't there? Let us know. See information you're not sure is necessary or may
simply be beyond the scope? Please contact us. Have special insight into a specific seat that may be noteworthy? Pass it along.
This wiki isn't necessarily to keep elected officials accountable. This is to keep ourselves accountable.
Thank you for your interest.
2017. 2018. 2019. 2020. And beyond...
~Colorado Elections Project Volunteer Team
Jessica Chauvin (Jessica Sandi), Lead Editor
