A lawsuit is challenging when Colorado Springs holds elections for mayor and City Council seats.

The lawsuit was filed in Denver County District Court by the voting-rights and social-justice groups the League of Women Voters of the Pikes Peak Region, Citizens Project, Common Cause Colorado and a Colorado Springs resident. The lawsuit argues that the city’s longstanding practice of holding municipal elections in April of odd-numbered years creates a racial disparity in voter participation that violates a recent Colorado law.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade announced that he will address the lawsuit at a news conference Wednesday morning, along with Councilmember Roland Rainey. The news conference response is unusual, because Colorado Springs staff and officials usually decline to comment on active lawsuits or pending litigation.

The League of Women Voters and the Citizens Project had previously sued Colorado Springs about their election dates in 2022. That case was ultimately dismissed by the U.S. District Court for Colorado over a lack of standing.

The new lawsuit leans on the Colorado Voting Rights Act that the state enacted in 2025. The act explicitly encourages cities to hold elections in November to make it easier for voters and outlaws election features that reduce participation for minorities and protected groups.

Data included in the lawsuit indicated that during the municipal elections in April, Black and Hispanic residents of Colorado Springs cast a ballot half as often as the city’s White residents. During the larger elections held in November, the racial disparity shrank significantly.

The lawsuit argued that the difference could be caused by the general election sending ballots to all registered voters, while Colorado Springs only sends ballots to active voters for local elections. The suit also argued that the general drop in turnout for the municipal election created other problems for the city.

“In off-cycle elections, local officeholders receive a smaller electoral reward when they have performed well and a smaller electoral penalty when they have performed poorly,” the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction are the two largest cities in Colorado that don’t hold elections in November. The April election date for Colorado Springs is set in the City Charter.