Back in 2011, Colorado was getting ready to start the once-a-decade task of redrawing the boundaries of the state’s legislative districts.

Rob Witwer, then a redistricting commissioner, floated a request to his fellow commissioners.

His idea: Let nonpartisan staff draw the initial maps for commissioners to consider so they aren’t immediately labeled as “Republican” or “Democrat” like other maps that mysteriously emerge. Another: Make changes to maps in public.

The other commissioners flatly rejected his request. Seven years later, Colorado voters will get the final say.

Witwer’s ideas are now part of a broader overhaul of redistricting that voters will consider this election cycle. Two ballot measures would change the state’s constitution and overhaul how the state draws the boundaries for congressional and legislative districts every decade after each census reflects population changes. Amendments Y and Z are intended to take the politics and partisanship out of redistricting, a process that critics say currently favors political insiders.

“People should pick their politicians, not the other way around,” said Witwer, a Republican and former state legislator. “The elections should decide the outcomes of who goes to Washington or who goes to the state capitol. We’re operating under the illusion that all these elections are decided by a vote, but in many cases these elections are decided by the way lines are drawn on a map.”

The proposals come at a time when redistricting will be closely watched after the 2020 census. Colorado’s population is rapidly growing, especially along the Front Range. The state also is expected to pick up at least one congressional seat.

Fair Maps Colorado is the group pushing the initiatives. The group has amassed a coalition with broad bipartisan support from officials and organizations. Gov. John Hickenlooper and former governors from both parties are on board. So are groups from different political ideologies: the ACLU, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank.

There are two amendments because redistricting unfolds every decade on two fronts: congressional districts and state legislative districts. Amendment Y would change congressional redistricting and Amendment Z would change legislative redistricting.

The amendments, which each require 55 percent of the vote to pass, make a combination of changes. Two independent commissions would oversee congressional and legislative redistricting. There’s also a strict prohibition against gerrymandering — drawing lines to favor a party or incumbent — and an increased emphasis on transparency and nonpartisanship.

Under both proposals, the 12-member commissions would each have four Republicans, four Democrats and four unaffiliated voters. The members would be picked through a combination of a lottery system and a panel of retired judges.

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For any map to pass, it would need a supermajority of eight commission members with at least two unaffiliated voters.

Giving unaffiliated voters a seat at the table is a much-needed change, said Bernie Buescher, a Democrat and former Colorado secretary of state.

“We’re treating them as they deserve to be treated because 39 percent of Colorado is unaffiliated,” he said. “That’s the largest voting block in the state and that’s really a big, big change.”

The system now in place gives elected officials a stronger role in influencing redistricting. Currently, the 100-member General Assembly is in charge of congressional redistricting. On the legislative side, an 11-member panel leads the process, with four members coming from legislative leaders, three from the governor and four picked by the chief justice of Colorado’s Supreme Court.

The proposals also would overhaul how maps are drawn and require districts to be as competitive as possible. That’s in addition to existing requirements, such as preserving communities of interest.

“These criteria are put together in a way that doesn’t favor either party and adding a component of encouraging the commission to create the maximum number of competitive seats goes a long ways to reestablishing a vibrant middle in politics,” Buescher said.

Party operatives won’t be drawing maps in backrooms under the proposals. The first maps the public sees are to be drawn by non-partisan legislative staff. New maps cannot be rushed through, either. There’s a 72-hour waiting period before a map can be adopted and requirements to adhere to the state’s open meeting and public records laws.

Colorado lawmakers unanimously voted in May to send the amendments to voters.

“The legislature was able to look at this through a lens of what’s in the best interest of Colorado and they saw this makes Colorado a national model for redistricting reform,” said Curtis Hubbard, a spokesman for Fair Maps.

Colorado is part of a national trend of states moving forward with redistricting reforms. Three other states — Michigan, Missouri and Utah — have ballot measures this November that would change redistricting, said Kathay Feng, national redistricting director of Common Cause, a nonprofit organization that advocates for more transparency in government.

“I think that there is a very strong reaction to people feeling like this process is closed, it’s secretive and it is intentionally so because there are partisan shenanigans going on where one party or a set of incumbents are trying to manipulate the lines,” Feng said.

An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect percentage of “yes” votes the amendments need to pass.