Amendment 71 is an anti-democratic proposal that would lessen the power that citizens have over our political process. Roughly half the states in the country have a ballot initiative process, and we’re lucky that Colorado is one of them. Running a ballot initiative campaign is very expensive and time-consuming, but that effort is worth it to be able to directly change state law by way of amending the constitution. This direct democracy allows for each and every one of us to have political power.
Amendment 71 would make it significantly harder for citizens to change the constitution, by mandating a 55 percent approval plus broader geographical support to even get a question on the ballot — it would require signatures from 2 percent of voters in each state Senate district.
Please vote “no” on Amendment 71.
Adam Hurter, Boulder
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