DENVER — Colorado voters will see a much longer ballot than usual for this November’s election, with questions ranging from embedding abortion rights in the state Constitution to upending the primary elections system.
In addition to hundreds of local measures, there are 14 statewide ballot measures his year, with an equal number split between constitutional amendments and propositions that are written into state statute.
Some of the measures were put on the ballot via citizens’ initiative while others came referred by the legislature, with several highly controversial matters to be decided.
Propositions need a simple majority (50 percent, plus 1) to pass, while amendments require 55 percent of voters to say yes.
The issues going before voters are:
- Amendment 79 — This citizens’ initiative would enshrine a right to abortion in the Colorado Constitution, and remove a current constitutional provision that bans the use of public funds for abortions. If passed, women could use Medicaid and other state resources from taxpayer funds to pay for the procedure. Colorado law already allows for near-unrestricted access to abortion (including for women from out of state).
- According to the Denver Post, “Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom so far has raised more than $4.2 million and has spent nearly $4 million of that. Of that, $1.5 million has gone to TV advertising. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to advocates. As of Sept. 6, according to organizers, total donations have topped $13 million, with much of that not yet reported.”
- Amendment 80 — This citizen initiative would guarantee parents the right to choose which school model is best for their child including everything from traditional brick and mortar to public charter, to home schools, and private schools. Advocates say it is needed to protect charter schools and other options from a legislature hostile to school choice. Opponents say it has a large threshold to pass, and if it fails it will only embolden anti-school choice legislators to make more laws restricting existing options.
- Amendment G — This legislative initiative would expand the property tax exemption for veterans with a disability to include those with “individual unemployability” status.
- Amendment H — This legislative initiative creates and independent judicial discipline adjudicative board and creates new rules for the judicial discipline process, including making the process public from the time the proceedings started, rather than confidential until the cases are completed.
- Amendment I — This legislative initiative would make criminal suspects charged with first-degree murder ineligible for bail when the proof is evident or the presumption of guilt is great. The state Constitution currently says only those who have committed “capital offenses” can be denied bail.
- Amendment J — This legislative initiative would remove a sentence from the Constitution that says “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.” Gay marriage has been legal in Colorado since 2014, and in 2015 the US Supreme Court ruled that marriage equality is the law of the nation, making Colorado’s Amendment 43 invalid.
- Amendment K — This legislative initiative would change the deadlines for filing initiative and referendum petition signatures and judicial retention notice deadlines. It would shorten the timeline one week in order to allow one extra week for the secretary of state to certify ballot order and content and election officials’ deadline to transmit ballots.
- Proposition 127 — This citizen’s initiative would prohibit so-called “trophy hunting” of mountain lions, bobcats, or lynx. Opponents say there is no need for this law as Colorado law already bans the practice, and that this law is simply to deny the ability of the Division of Wildlife to control the big cat population with current, science-based wildlife management practices..
- Proposition 128 — This citizen’s initiative would increase the minimum amount of time spent in jail for certain crimes before being eligible for parole. It would require offenders convicted of certain violent crimes on or after January 1, 2025 to serve at least 85% of their sentence and offenders with two prior violent crime convictions to serve their full sentence before being eligible for parole.
- Proposition 129 — This citizen initiative would create the profession of veterinary professional associate (VPA), requiring a master’s degree and registration with the state board of veterinary medicine.
- Proposition 130 — This citizen initiative would create the “Peace Officer Training and Support Fund” to provide funding for law enforcement training, retention, and hiring; training surrounding the use of force. It would also provide death benefits for surviving spouses and children of officers or first responders killed in the line of duty.
- Proposition 131 — This citizen initiative would change the way primaries are held in Colorado for S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, Colorado University board of regents, state board of education, and state legislature by utilizing an open system and ranked-choice voting for the primaries. It would create a true open primary (all candidates run on one ballot, no separating primary by party anymore), and the top four would advance to the general election. Voters would rank their choices by preference, and those rankings would be calculated by eliminating the lowest performing candidate in “rounds” and adding the voter’s “next choice” to the results until only four remain.
- According to the Denver Post, the issue committee supporting the measure raised “nearly $5.5 million before Labor Day and spent nearly $4.7 million of that to gather signatures, hire consultants and run advertisements. Most all of that money has come from either the political action committee Unite America or from Kent Thiry, a multimillionaire with a long history of political activity. Over the past two decades, Thiry has spent nearly $10 million to influence Colorado politics, according to campaign finance records, including $1.4 million — so far — on this latest effort.”
- Proposition JJ — This legislative initiative would remove Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) revenue restrictions on the tax money collected by the state from sports betting. Currently, the state can only keep up to $29 million.
- Proposition KK — This legislative initiative creates a new tax of a 6.5% excise tax on firearms and ammunition manufacturing and sales to be imposed on firearms dealers, manufacturers, and ammunition vendors. A new cash fund would be created known as the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Cash Fund and would be used to fund crime victim services programs, education programs, and mental and behavioral health programs for children and veterans.
Complete Colorado will continue to follow these measures and any developments with them.
