Earlier this summer, I was approached by a man with a clipboard while my kids were clamoring for ice cream. The stranger asked if I had a moment to talk about ballot initiatives.
I was busy weighing the benefits of ice cream against the eventual sugar crash and tantrums that would come later. But I have a lot of respect for anyone passionate enough to stand around with a clipboard in the ninety-degree heat.
I assumed this guy was a dedicated volunteer.
Plus, it seemed like a good time to teach my older kid about ballot initiatives, a hallmark of direct democracy.
In Colorado (and 23 other states), citizens can propose new legislation; if they hammer out the language with the title board, and manage to gather enough signatures, it gets added to the ballot for voters to decide.
This grassroots process has given us things like recreational cannabis and Universal Pre-K. But it抖阴ap also easily manipulated by billionaires, who can spend millions to push their own preferred measures.
But I didn鈥檛 know that yet. I still thought this guy was a volunteer. 鈥淪ure,鈥� I said.
He thrust a clipboard at me. 鈥淲e鈥檙e out here trying to lower taxes,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith a flat tax.鈥�
鈥淲ait,鈥� I said, wondering if I was just sleep-deprived. 鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 a flat tax just help billionaires?鈥�
He looked at me like he was reconsidering something. 鈥淥h, then you鈥檒l love this one,鈥� he said, handing me a different clipboard. 鈥淚t抖阴ap about accessibility, making all ballot initiatives be written at an eighth-grade reading level.鈥�
Accessibility. Okay. My kids were yelling again. I signed it.
But later, I couldn鈥檛 stop thinking about it. Why would one volunteer be circulating two petitions that seemed so ideologically opposed? I started researching.
That抖阴ap when I learned about Advance Colorado, the organization behind both campaigns. The group doesn鈥檛 disclose its donors, and they鈥檝e already spent millions to influence our ballots before.
In 2024, they managed to get one of their ballot initiatives passed. It diverts $350 million to police departments — by siphoning the money away from other social services.
Now they鈥檙e pushing a slew of other initiatives, and they鈥檝e already gathered enough signatures to add two of them to our ballots this November. One would make the possession of any amount of fentanyl a felony, and increase criminal penalties, despite many studies showing that such policies have zero positive impacts. (This measure is clearly a gift for the private prison industry, which would see its profits increase as more people get incarcerated.) The other measure would force Colorado police departments to report people to ICE.
It抖阴ap unlikely that Coloradans actually want this.
In December, a reporter for the nonprofit Colorado Times Recorder managed to record signature-gatherers outside a Boulder grocery store, where they were telling voters the measure would rein in ICE. One Boulder resident told reporters she鈥檇 been asked to sign it to 鈥渟top ICE from attacking 鈥� nonviolent criminals.鈥�
Misleading voters like this isn鈥檛 technically illegal.
Even if it was, it wouldn鈥檛 be the first time an Advance Colorado campaign has run afoul of the law. Earlier this year, two paid signature-gatherers were indicted for forging signatures on one of the organization鈥檚 2024 petitions. The organization itself faced zero repercussions. (Colorado is one of 16 states where it抖阴ap legal to pay petition-circulators per signature.)
My interaction with that guy with the clipboard was starting to make a lot more sense.
But why would Advance Colorado want all future ballot initiatives to be written at an eighth-grade reading level?
According to progressive think tank The Bell Policy Center, this one is a 鈥渨olf in sheep鈥檚 clothing鈥� because it sounds reasonable but would also remove any language about how a measure would affect state budgets. (For example, like if diverting money to law enforcement would require cuts to Medicaid or school funding.)
But the real answer might be even simpler. Studies show it抖阴ap harder to get people to vote 鈥測es鈥� on a ballot measure than to vote 鈥渘o鈥� — but it抖阴ap easier when the measure is written in plain language.
Advance Colorado is trying to pave the way for their future ballot measures.
It抖阴ap a good strategy — if you鈥檙e trying to push right-wing legislation in an increasingly progressive state.
We should have rules to prevent dark-money groups from hijacking our ballot initiative process. But until then, we should make sure everyone knows what Advance Colorado is up to.
Cecelia Thorn is a mom and former journalist who鈥檚 lived in Colorado for 20 years. She writes a Substack newsletter called 鈥淭houghts Not Bots.鈥�
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