DENVER—The secretary of state’s office certified the signatures submitted by a group supporting a “right-to-work” initiative Monday, clearing the way for the issue to appear on the November ballot.
The measure would prohibit mandatory union membership or mandatory union dues.
It is one of the dueling initiatives between labor and business expected on the ballot in the fall. Politicians such as Gov. Bill Ritter and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper have sought to squelch measures promoted by both sides.
The “A Better Colorado” group pushing the “right-to-work” initiative garnered nearly 20,000 more valid signatures than the required 76,000, according to projections from Secretary of State Mike Coffman.
The group submitted more than 136,000 signatures.
Coffman’s office examined a random sample of nearly 7,000 signatures and based its projections on the percentage of acceptable signatures in the sample.
The initiative will appear as Amendment 47 on the ballot.
The group opposing the initiative criticized A Better Colorado for having roughly a third of the signatures declared invalid. Jess Knox, spokesman for Protect Colorado’s Future, said his group plans to scrutinize the signatures.
