Ballot language: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the modification of certain deadlines in connection with specified elections?
This amendment would make three changes to the timing of three aspects of the ballot initiative process:
- The deadline for ballot initiative petition submission moves from three months prior to Election Day to three months and one week before Election Day.
- The deadline for referendum petitions moves from 90 days after the end of the legislative session to 83 days after the end of the session. Referendum petitions seek to overturn a law passed by the legislature in the most recent session.
- The title and ballot text of measures would need to be published 45 days before Election Day, instead of the current 15 days.
This amendment was approved nearly unanimously by the state legislature, with only one dissenting vote in the State House.
IndivisibleNOCO recommends a YES vote on Amendment K. While it does slightly reduce the amount of time available to gather signatures, that time is needed by county clerks and other election officials to validate signatures and prepare ballots. The large number of ballot initiatives we tend to get places a high burden on county clerk staff to prepare ballots. An extra seven days would reduce the need for long hours to prepare for Election Day.