Signatures for final ballot measures turned in today

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News Release

 

                                                                          MEDIA CONTACT: (303) 860-6903

                                                                                      Lynn Bartels 

lynn.bartels@sos.state.co.us

                                                                                                                           

Petitions for final five ballot measures, including oil-and-gas, turned in today

 

DENVER, Aug. 8, 2016 – Coloradans in November could be deciding whether to allow local governments to ban oil-and-gas development, triple the taxes on a pack of cigarettes and require county clerks to send unaffiliated voters ballots for Republican and Democratic candidates during the primary election. 

Today was the final day for citizens attempting to put a measure on the Nov. 8 ballot to turn in their petition signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State's office. The following five measures were turned in before the 3 p.m. deadline:

  • Local government authority to regulate oil-and-gas development: No. 75
  • Mandatory setback for oil/gas development: No. 78
  • New cigarette and tobacco taxes: No. 143
  • Primary elections: No. 98
  • Presidential primary election: No. 140

The office will now conduct a 5-percent random sample of submitted signatures to determine whether the proposals meet the threshold to make the ballot. To get on the ballot, proponents need to submit 98,492 valid voter signatures -- 5 percent of the total votes cast for all candidates for Colorado Secretary of State in the last general election.

The Secretary of State's Office has 30 days after signatures are submitted, Sept. 7, to announce whether a proposal made the ballot.

The backers of the following measures earlier turned in their signature petitions and are awaiting to hear whether they made the ballot:

  • State minimum wage: No. 101
  • Medical aid in dying: No. 145
  • Requirements for constitutional amendments: No. 96

The only citizen-initiative already confirmed on the ballot is Amendment 69. Backers were informed last November they had collected enough valid signatures to put what is known as "ColoradoCare" before the voters.

Also on the ballot are two measures referred by the Colorado General Assembly: Amendment T, regarding servitude, and Amendment U, regarding property taxes. In addition, the Denver Metro Scientific and Cultural Facilities Board put Ballot Issue 4B (PDF), a sales-and-use tax measure, on ballots in the following counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Boulder, Denver, Douglas (except Castle Rock and Larkspur) and Jefferson.

Earlier, high-profile liquor measures and a proposal dealing with the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights were pulled by their sponsors after signature-gathering had already started.

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