Colorado Unaffiliated Voters Encouraged To Vote In Primary

DENVER (CBS4) - A giant inflatable "U" is up outside of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce in downtown Denver. It's a symbol of the UChooseCO campaign spearheaded by the Chamber and the Colorado Secretary of State's office. The campaign is designed to raise awareness about the process and new rules surrounding unaffiliated voters participating in the primary.

There's a lot of folks that when they look at the ballot in November sometimes they're frustrated with the choices they have. Now, there are some real choices you can make. There are eight major party candidates running for Governor. Two of those are going to appear on the November ballot, you get to choose which ones they are," said Wayne Williams, Colorado Secretary of State.

This is the first primary election that unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote in. Both Republican and Democrat ballots were sent out to unaffiliated residents. They are allowed to choose one of the ballots to fill out. If they vote both ballots, neither one will count.

"The Chamber supported this initiative initially because we do see in our general election that these are voters who show up, and they care in our general election and we hope to see that in our primary," said Kelly Brough, President of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

The UChooseCO campaign started in March in an effort to let every voter know their rights. Primary ballots need to be turned in by Tuesday, June 26th.

"According to preliminary returns, unaffiliated voters are voting but at about half the rate of affiliated voters," Williams explained.