What Matters to Voters This Election?

Original story by Megan Verlee from Colorado Public Radio News with contributions from CPR Audience Editor Stephanie Rivera and Bucket List Publisher Vicky Collins.

One month ago, newsrooms across Colorado launched an ambitious project: invite people across the state to tell us what they want politicians to talk about in this election, and use their answers to help guide the stories we tell. The survey in English can be found here and the survey in Spanish can be found here.

So far, more than 3,100 people have responded to that call and filled out the Voter Voices survey. Among them are Gen Z voters who express concern about the war in Gaza, abortion and how expensive things are these days.  

“I would like my candidates to talk about the housing market in Denver and what is being done to secure affordable housing for those (many) who don’t make more than the average cost of living in Denver,” wrote Logan Kurtz, one of Bucket List’s engagement managers, who currently lives in Arvada and is looking for a place to rent.   

“How they feel about America’s place in the war in Gaza, their plans to make steps forward in equity and equality, especially about homelessness and women’s bodily autonomy (if they even have any, but if not I guess I’d like to hear that too,” wrote Denver respondent Catherine Schofield.

The Coloradans who filled out our survey so far make it clear they also want politicians to discuss issues like the environment, immigration, health care, education and the high cost of living.

“What the U.S. can do to make the world more stable,” is the question a man in Fort Collins said candidates need to answer. “Employment rate is near pre-COVID levels, what can be done to get prices down after 9% increases in 2022—it’s great that inflation is ONLY 3%/yr now but prices are still 20-30% higher than 2019.”

Many have also written about their concerns for our democracy itself.

“I want candidates to discuss wholesale reform of our country’s and Colorado’s constitution,” wrote Juan Manuel Ramirez Anzures of Denver. “We need to overhaul them to incorporate reforms like more seats, instant-runoff elections, robust publicly financed elections, and proportional representation.”

We’re also asking how much confidence people have in elections, both how they are conducted in Colorado, and around the country. The people responding so far are telling us they have great faith in our state’s election system, but a lot more doubt about whether the election will be conducted fairly nationwide.

The Voter Voices survey is being conducted by 60 newsrooms statewide including those in Denver, Boulder, and at CU, MSU Denver and CSU. Bucket List Community News is working with universities to take the pulse of Gen Z voters.

“Gen Z is very diverse and young voters are also disillusioned. It is an important group and having them engaged in this year’s election is going to set the course for their future and also ours,” said Bucket List publisher Vicky Collins.  

The project is led by the nonprofit Colorado News Collaborative, or COLab, and Colorado Public Radio. 

The survey will remain open through this year’s election campaigning, as newsrooms continue to record their communities’ priorities and present what we learn to our readers and listeners.

The goal is not only to respond to what Coloradans statewide and locally say matters to them in our election reporting, but also to challenge candidates to respond directly to voter priorities and concerns and cut out the noise during election season. 

We invite you not just to fill out the Voter Voices survey, but also to pass it on. Share the link with others you know whose opinions we should hear. You can also find out whether your newsroom is participating and connect directly to its survey here.