x
Breaking News
More () »

'No Mandates,' no problem: School board candidate's nickname allowed on ballot

Blake "No Mandates" Law appears on the ballot for a local school board race. Colorado does allow candidates to include one nickname on a ballot.

DENVER — Voters deciding the Thompson School District board director race can choose between two candidates: Alexandra Lessem and Blake “No Mandates” Law.

Law’s name appears with the nickname, which he said he has gone by “long enough,” on the official ballot sent out in Larimer, Boulder and Weld counites.

“When the time came up to put my name on the ballot, I said, you know what? I’m already going by it, might as well be on the ballot, so I put it on as a nickname.”

Law said he feels passionate about getting rid of extensive mandates and focusing on what communities want. The nickname came from friends, he said.

Credit: 9NEWS

“Here’s what I can tell you. The world of politics can be sometimes tricky, and we acted completely within the law," Law told 9NEWS.

Colorado does allow candidates to include one nickname on a ballot if they regularly use it and it doesn't include any part of a political party's name.

"I prefer not to have things like this on the ballot. For me, it opens the watershed,” Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Angela Myers (R) said. “Probably we’re going to have this in every election for somebody, so I think it is a part of the law that needs a bit of tightening up in my mind."

Myers said she does not get to pick and choose what someone's nickname is or how long they've gone by it.

In this particular race, Law said he does not feel his nickname with a political statement exploits the law.

"Let’s say that you had a nickname that meant something that you were passionate about. Would there be a rule that said you can’t use your nickname because you happen to be passionate about it? Of course not," he said.

RELATED: Should voters know the political affiliation of council candidates?

RELATED: Voter Guide 2021: Everything you need to know about the election in Colorado

SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Full Episodes of Next with Kyle Clark

Before You Leave, Check This Out