Colorado's Democrats have once again found themselves on the wrong side of the state's open meetings laws, as a Denver judge recently ordered them to immediately halt the use of a secret ranking system to prioritize bills. The judge's ruling makes it clear that this practice blatantly violates Colorado's open meetings law.

The Democrats claim to have developed the system, known as quadratic voting, a few years ago. This system allows Democratic lawmakers to anonymously vote on bills with minimal public disagreements.

Party leadership argues that the secret results enable them to privately tally the votes, away from the scrutiny of voters and their colleagues, to devise their strategy on bills.

Last year, two conservative groups stepped forward and sued, arguing that the secret balloting goes against Colorado's open meetings law. Their contention was validated on Friday when Judge David Goldberg agreed with their position.

“The explicit purpose of Colorado’s Open Meetings Law is to encourage public participation in the legislative process through an increased awareness of public matters,” Judge Goldberg wrote.

In a joint statement after Friday’s ruling, Senate President Steve Fenberg and House Speaker Julie McCluskie said, “This tool was intended to bring fairness, equity, and inclusion into how we invest our state resources, and we are committed to these principles and to transparency in the legislative process. We are disappointed in the court’s decision and still reviewing it.”

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This is not the first time that Colorado's legislative leaders have been required to amend their practices due to violations of transparency rules. Earlier this year, House Democrat leadership had to make changes after being sued by two members of their own caucus over similar concerns.

The repeated violations of transparency rules by Colorado's Democrats raise serious questions about their commitment to open governance and the trust placed in them by the public. Critics argue that such actions undermine the integrity of the legislative process and erode the confidence that voters have in their elected officials.