Jared Polis Recall Effort Reaches Mesa County

Political signs have always been a staple of any town. Usually they pop up a few months before elections, like midterms or presidential elections, to share an individual’s political affiliation and encourage others to vote. This summer various signs have been appearing not to help someone into office, but to take someone out.

The political group “Dismiss Polis” have been getting signatures for a petition to recall Jared Polis, the Colorado governor. The petition was approved by the Secretary of State’s office on July 8th, meaning that the group now has sixty days to accumulate more than half a million signatures, according to KKCO 11 News.

The group’s goal is to recall Jared Polis after his approval and signing of  several controversial bills. One bill was over the state’s revamping of oil and gas rules. Another bill was one that allowed judges to issue a court order to take firearms away from mentally unstable people, according to the Grand Junction Sentinel. The last, and most controversial bill was one involving the electoral college system. This bill joined Colorado with nine other states to compile their electoral college votes with the popular vote for the next election. 

Dismiss Polis believes that this bill will ignore the voices of rural populations of Colorado and lump their votes in with the urban population. This could lead to the election of politicians who don’t have the rural population’s interest in mind. Others say that the electoral college system is outdated and the popular vote should “go ahead”, according to KKCO 11 News.

The petition has made its way around Colorado, including Mesa County. The group made it’s stop here in early July and gained more than five hundred signatures. Currently the group is travelling across the remainder of Colorado in the next few weeks to try to collect the rest of the signatures needed to recall Polis. The deadline for their petition is the rapidly approaching September 6th.

All of this petition chaos is a reminder to all American citizens that it’s important to participate in politics, whether it’s local or federal. No matter which side of the bipartisan divide someone is on, it’s important to vote and stay educated on current politics because it is something that directly affects every American citizen’s life.