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Voter Voices 2024

Election coverage that puts voters first

About the Project

Voter Voices 2024 is an unprecedented effort led by COLab to organize Colorado newsrooms around election coverage that listens and responds to what Coloradans say matters to them most.

And then to hold candidates accountable for responding to those concerns.

In early April, more than 30 news organizations — representing dozens of newsrooms — took the first step in that listening by launching a shared survey rooted in a single, powerful question: What do you want candidates to talk about as they compete for your vote? 

The question is the centerpiece of the Citizens Agenda, a model of reporting that makes voters the center of election coverage.

Colorado newsrooms — tiny, small and larger, print, digital and radio, serving both broad audiences and specific communities, rural, urban and suburban — are putting the survey on their websites, in their papers, in newsletters and on social media. They are using their airwaves, sending reporters out to talk to voters and would-be voters, attending and organizing community events, and parking in coffee shops, outside libraries and anywhere else they can find people in an all-out effort to better hear from all parts of the communities they serve.

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Coloradans have responded to the survey as of November 4, 2024. Have you added your voice?
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Coloradans have responded to the survey as of November 4, 2024.

Have you added your voice?

Take the survey now.

A special thank you to Colorado Public Radio, our key partner in this effort. Their experience in surveying voters, their willingness to share the tools to make this survey possible, not only helped us launch this effort, but also helped set the tone of cooperation among newsrooms that have traditionally competed with one another.

The survey is a tool, a start. Voter Voices is an experiment in collaboration, coordination and coverage, but one well worth trying. We are excited to see it unfold over these next months.

The excitement is catching. Keep scrolling down this page and you’ll find how our Voter Voices partner newsrooms are announcing their participation, plus local and national coverage about the effort.

Join us. If you can vote in Colorado, take the survey. If you’re a newsroom wishing to sign up or a community organization who wants to share with members, just reach out to COLab Managing Editor Tina Griego at Tina [at] COLabNews [dot] co.

Where To Find Top Issues on Your Ballot

Voter Guides

More than 7,000 Coloradans used the Voter Voices survey to tell their local newsrooms what they wanted candidates to focus on this election season. Survey respondents’ priorities and questions for candidates resulted in more informed candidate questionnaires and voter guides. Here is a sampling: 

The Stories

Voter Voices in Action

Voter Voices in the National Spotlight

News in Focus

Headlines, resources and events aligned with API's four areas of focus

Civil Discourse & Democracy

+ Colorado newsrooms collaborate on Voter Voices project (Colorado Public Radio)

The project, which includes newsrooms across the state, is aimed at learning what voters want candidates to focus on, the issues people care about and how much they trust the system. Many of the participants have long been competitors, notes CPR editor Megan Verlee, but she says it’s important that citizens, not politicians, drive coverage decisions.

Thank you

We’re a nonprofit and a tiny one at that. We could not do this work without your support. Thank you to our donors.

Together, we are seeking to put the communities we serve first.