Attorney for Aurora: Refine election rules to allow people with prior felonies to run for office

AURORA | After a legal challenge from the ACLU of Colorado, the City of Aurora has begun the process of changing municipal rules that have previously banned people with any prior felony convictions for running for city office.

The change stems from the candidacy of Candice Bailey, a local activist who earlier this year declared her intent to run for one of the two at-large city council seats up this November. More than two decades ago, Bailey was convicted of second-degree assault at the age of 22, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. She was also convicted of various misdemeanors in the 1990s and early 2000s. 

The ACLU took up Bailey’s case earlier this year, claiming the city rule — which appears in the city code and in the charter — violates the State Constitution. 

“The Aurora laws we challenge today represent arbitrary and unjustifiable discrimination, particularly against people of color everywhere,” Mark Silverstein, legal director for the ACLU of Colorado, previously said of the lawsuit in a statement. “These provisions also violate the rights of Aurora residents, who should be free to choose the candidates they believe will be their best representatives. These biased barriers deprive the voters of that choice.”

This week, the city took first steps in changing the rule by ordinance with a presentation at a city study session. If approved by the city council at next week’s meeting, the ordinance will align the city code with the state constitution, essentially eliminating language that says candidates with any felony convictions are ineligible. 

People convicted of “embezzlement of public money, bribery, perjury, solicitation of bribery, or subordination of perjury” will still not be permitted to run for office, per the State Constitution. 

Silverstein told the Sentinel Monday the ACLU is still insisting a judge make a final decision on the constitutionality claims because of charter language, which can only be changed by a vote of the electorate. 

“We’re happy Aurora agrees with us that to prohibit this candidacy is wrong, but we need a judge to say that,” he said. 

Special counsel to the city, Gerlad Dahl, told lawmakers Monday during the study session the code change by ordinance is the best the city can do at the moment, but he would recommend the updated language be taken to the voters.

“You do what you can within the time you have and you knock off the things that are in front of you, and you move forward,” he said.

Bailey said the city clerk last month presented her attorneys with an offer that would allow her to run on an ad hoc basis, though there would be no change to the current city rules. She rejected the offer, saying she was more interested in ensuring anyone with a prior felony conviction would be able to run for municipal office beyond this November’s race. 

“I need the charter changed for future generations,” she said. “It’s not about me.”

Bailey said she expects her court case to continue to move forward this month, with the goal of receiving a judge’s ruling next week. 

She said she does not plan to begin gathering the 100 signatures required to formally get on the ballot until she receives the opinion of a judge. 

Nominating petitions for all city council races this year will be available to candidates starting Aug. 4. They must be turned in and certified by the city clerk’s office by Aug. 24. 

So far, six people have formally signaled their intent to run for one of the two at-large seats up for grabs, according to information reported by the Aurora City Clerk’s Office.