The Democratic Party has historically attracted women and minority voters, and this year’s national platform reiterates the party’s support of affirmative action programs.

So why do so many Colorado Democrats support Amendment 46, the measure on the November ballot that would end state-sponsored affirmative action programs?

Three recent polls show that support for the measure — which would ban race and gender preferences in state hiring, contracting and education — is higher among Democrats than Republicans.

Critics of the measure and political observers say the polls likely reflect voter confusion over what the measure would really do. They say some Democratic voters think the measure is aimed at eliminating discrimination against women and minorities rather than ending affirmative action programs.

“My guess is that if you’re seeing numbers that high (among Democrats), people are misunderstanding what a yes vote means, because this is the party of affirmative action,” said Pat Waak, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party.

The most recent poll, released Aug. 13 by Rasmussen Reports, showed that likely Colorado voters supported the measure 55 percent in favor to 23 percent against. But the poll showed that 71 percent of Democrats supported the measure while only 34 percent of Republicans supported it.

Two earlier Quinnipiac University polls also showed higher support for the measure among Hispanics than whites, and one poll showed more women supporting the amendment than men.

Bob Loevy, a political scientist at Colorado College, said the wording of the poll questions, which was similar to the wording of the amendment itself, is instructive.

The Quinnipiac poll includes language from the ballot measure that says “the state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any group or individual on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin” in hiring, contracting or education. The Rasmussen poll used similar language.

“On the surface, this amendment sounds like something most Democrats would want to vote for; it gets rid of what sounds like racial favoritism,” Loevy said. “It takes a while to explain to people that there are certain implications to this — doing away with certain affirmative action programs.”

Loevy said that unless opponents of the measure start a robust campaign, many Democrats will support it.

“Many may wake up after Election Day and realize they probably voted for something they didn’t want,” he said.

Jessica Peck Corry, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, the campaign in support of the initiative, said she didn’t think there was any confusion about the ballot measure. She said the high support among Democratic voters reflected “a huge divide between the Democrat elites” and the party’s rank and file.

“For the average Democrat voter, he or she is concerned about their kids getting into college,” Corry said. “They don’t have time for lofty political debates that many elite Democrats can afford to have. The liberal elites already have their (college and employment) connections, whereas ordinary blue-collar voters don’t.”

Opponents of the ballot measure say they have an uphill battle. Craig Hughes, an organizer of the Vote No on Amendment 46 campaign, said the confusion among Democratic voters follows a pattern with similar measures that passed in other states.

California businessman Ward Connerly is pushing Amendment 46 and measures like it in other states. Similar measures already have passed in California, Michigan and Washington.

Hughes said the anti-46 campaign will show that opportunities for women and minorities have been diminished in states where the anti-affirmative action measures have passed.

Amendment 46 opponents filed a lawsuit in April challenging whether some petition circulators who gathered signatures for the ballot measure met legal requirements.

Secretary of State Mike Coffman’s office is re-examining the signatures for the initiative after a preliminary sample count of signatures could not determine if there were enough to place the measure on the ballot.

But opponents’ main strategy may lie in a counter-initiative they are trying to get on the ballot. The proposal is worded similarly to Amendment 46, calling for ending discrimination based on race and sex, but contains a phrase that would allow for all current affirmative action programs to remain in place.

Essentially, the proposal would do the exact opposite of Amendment 46 — preserving affirmative action in the Colorado Constitution.

In a radio ad campaign, Amendment 46 supporters have said that opponents’ counter-initiative is deliberately misleading. Opponents of Amendment 46 say that’s pot-and-kettle talk.

Said Hughes: “What’s deceptive is trying to ban equal opportunity programs in the guise of expanding equal opportunity for all.”

Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com