The lineup for Colorado’s bulging November ballot should be set today, when the secretary of state’s office is expected to announce its decision on certification for the last outstanding proposed initiative.
Whatever the result, this year’s ballot will be a big ‘un.
Through Tuesday, the office had certified 14 initiatives for the ballot. The most recent, approved Tuesday, was a measure now dubbed Amendment 59. It would undo state constitutional revenue limits and mandatory education funding increases.
The ballot also will feature four referendums from the legislature. The combination of at least 18 measures on the ballot this fall will be the most in at least several decades, if not a record.
“It’s going to be the most in a long time,” said secretary of state spokesman Rich Coolidge.
The only proposed initiative whose petitions are still being checked is Initiative 82, which would safeguard certain affirmative action policies in Colorado and stands in opposition to the anti-affirmative action Amendment 46. Coolidge said he expected there to be an announcement about Initiative 82 today.
Because Initiative 82 barely eked out enough valid signatures during a random sampling, the secretary of state’s office had to go line by line checking the 117,771 signatures submitted for the initiative. It must have 76,047 valid signatures from Colorado voters to make the ballot.
Melissa Hart, president of Coloradans for Equal Opportunity, the campaign backing Initiative 82, said she is confident there will be enough.
“I tell people it’s like taking the bar exam,” she said. “You don’t have to get an A. You have to pass. You don’t have to get extra names to be on the ballot.”
Supporters for Initiative 82 and Amendment 46 have been engaged in back-and-forth legal battles in efforts to keep either measure off the ballot.
Hart said Initiative 82 had only a couple of months to collect its signatures because of appeals by supporters of Amendment 46.
Jessica Peck Corry, a spokeswoman for the pro-46 Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, called Initiative 82 a “desperate campaign” designed to confuse voters — something that pro-82 groups say Amendment 46 does.
“If voters want to end race and gender preferences, they need to vote for our initiative,” Corry said. “If they want to maintain our current system, they should vote for 82.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
