Ross Perot ran for president as the Reform Party’s candidate. Jill Stein, and Ralph Nader before her, flew the flag for the Green Party. And Theodore Roosevelt sought a third term as president as a member of the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party in 1912. The United State’s two-party political system has a strong tradition of so-called third parties, and you’ll see your fair share on your ballot this year in Colorado: The Centennial State has eight official minor parties (and no Qualified Political Organizations, which are basically minor, minor parties).

The Colorado Secretary of State’s website defines a minor party as “any political party other than a major political party,” which is as straightforward as it is vague. So, what, really, makes a minor political party? Besides navigating some red tape, each organization must submit a petition signed by 10,000 registered Colorado voters and meet one of two major requirements to be recognized as a minor party by the state of Colorado: have at least 1,000 registered party members or have a candidate for statewide office receive at least five percent of the vote in the past two general elections. Fulfill those requirements, and any candidate for state or federal office who earns their party’s nomination will automatically be placed on the ballot.

This election, that means that Coloradans won’t just be choosing between red and blue in the general election; they’ll be considering candidates from the Approval Voting Party, the Libertarian Party of Colorado, the Green Party of Colorado, the American Constitution Party of Colorado, the Unity Party of Colorado, the Colorado Forward Party, and the Colorado Center Party. (The No Labels Colorado Party didn’t nominate any candidates this election cycle.) Below, find a rundown on how, er, legit each one is.

Jump Ahead:

  1. American Constitution Party of Colorado
  2. Approval Voting Party
  3. Colorado Center Party
  4. Colorado Forward Party
  5. Green Party of Colorado
  6. Libertarian Party of Colorado
  7. No Labels Colorado Party
  8. Unity Party of Colorado

Read More: Your Guide to the 14 Questions on Colorado’s Ballot


1. American Constitution Party of Colorado

  • Headquarters: Arvada
  • Number of candidates on the 2024 ballot: Two
  • Motto: “The party of ‘integrity, liberty, and prosperity!’ ”
  • Its website looks like: It sells life insurance.

Select policy goals:

  • Support the Electoral College and oppose changing presidential elections to a national popular vote.
  • Adopt English as America’s first and only official language.
  • Repeal the Affordable Care Act.
  • Ask the federal government to “close all unconstitutional federal agencies that usurp state power,” such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Internal Revenue Service.
  • “We affirm the God-given legal personhood of all human beings from fertilization to natural death, without exception.”

2. Approval Voting Party

  • Headquarters: Littleton
  • Number of candidates on the 2024 ballot: Seven
  • Motto: “Pick All You Like!”
  • Its website looks like: A work in progress.

Select policy goals:

  • Move past the two-party system and elevate centrist candidates by replacing traditional voting with approval voting. Voters can choose multiple candidates in approval voting, thus purportedly limiting divisive, attack-ad-driven political campaigns that could alienate potential voters who might otherwise vote for both candidates. The candidate with the most votes wins.

3. Colorado Center Party

  • Headquarters: Fort Collins
  • Number of candidates on the 2024 ballot: Two
  • Motto: ​​“Building the guardrails to protect us from the far left and the far right”
  • Its website looks like: It’s from 2001.

Select policy goals:

  • Implement ranked-choice or approval voting.
  • Protect same-sex marriage, the environment, abortion (sort of), and the Second Amendment (also: sort of).
  • Reform and curtail immigration.
  • Fund education and the police.
  • Stop Democrats from creating “a socialist society.”

4. Colorado Forward Party

  • Headquarters: Denver
  • Number of candidates on the 2024 ballot: Two
  • Motto: “Not Left. Not Right. FORWARD.”
  • Its website looks like: Online college.

Select policy goals:

  • Implement redistricting commissions to prevent gerrymandering or “blatant partisan manipulation of congressional voting districts.”
  • Open primary elections to all voters, regardless of registered party affiliation.
  • Enact ranked-choice voting.

5. Green Party of Colorado

  • Headquarters: Denver
  • Number of candidates on the 2024 ballot: One
  • Motto: “Building for a new way free of corporate influence”
  • Its website looks like: It sells car insurance.

Select policy goals:


6. Libertarian Party of Colorado

  • Headquarters: Denver
  • Number of candidates on the 2024 ballot: 18
  • Motto: “All your freedoms, all of the time”
  • Its website looks like: A for-profit university’s site.

Select policy goals:

  • End the war on drugs and legalize marijuana nationally.
  • Remove the government from private, consensual relationships.
  • Reject any law restricting or hindering gun ownership, manufacture, or sale.
  • Fund public services through voluntary means instead of taxes.
  • End public schooling.

7. No Labels Colorado Party

Select policy goals:

  • Unclear: The Colorado branch doesn’t appear to have its own website yet. The No Labels party believes happy things like, “America isn’t perfect, but we love this country and would not want to live anyplace else” and “We can still love and respect people who do not share our political opinions.”

8. Unity Party of Colorado

  • Headquarters: Arvada
  • Number of candidates on the 2024 ballot: 11
  • Motto: “Stay united!”
  • Its website looks likeA middle school homepage.

Select policy goals:

  • Balance budgets, equalize the tax burden on all Americans, and increase the federal minimum wage.
  • Increase voting security with paper receipts.
  • Protect Colorado’s water by increasing investment in sustainable and renewable energy sources.
  • Protect abortion.

Nicholas Hunt
Nicholas Hunt
Nicholas writes and edits the Compass, Adventure, and Culture sections of 5280 and writes for 5280.com.