Andrea Wilkins, co-lead of the League of Women Voters of Colorado’s Legislative Action Committee, described a year-plus coalition effort that produced senate bill 25-001, the Colorado Voting Rights Act, and led to a bill signing at the Governor’s Mansion on 05/12/2025.
"The effort culminated in a bill signing at the Governor's Mansion on 05/12/2025," Wilkins said, describing regular drafting meetings and technical assistance from the Harvard Elections Law Clinic that helped shape the bill language.
Wilkins told LAC members the coalition included statewide civic groups — Common Cause, Mi Familia VOTA, Disability Law Colorado, Colorado Black Women for Political Action, Colorado Justice Reform Coalition, the ACLU of Colorado and others — and that the work involved drafting, stakeholder conversations and committee testimony over many months. She said the League’s voting and elections team and task force members reviewed draft language and supported lobbying and member education.
Kathy Ebersberger, an LAC leader, framed the work as an example of what deeper, sustained lobbying looks like for the organization. "Lobbying is the LAC's bread and butter," she said, describing how coalition policy development, committee testimony and individual legislator meetings are used to advance legislative priorities.
Speakers emphasized that passage is not the endpoint: LWVCO plans to monitor implementation to ensure the legislation functions as intended and to surface any issues that arise. Wilkins said coalition partners and league volunteers will continue to track the bill as it moves into implementation and to work on any follow-up items.
The meeting materials and slide deck referenced the bill by number and noted LWVCO’s role in statewide voter education and lobbying activities during the session. The League said it intends to use its statewide network and task force research to support monitoring and, where necessary, to pursue technical fixes or further advocacy.