Citizens in Charge

Proponents must submit the original text of the measure
to the directors of the Legislative Council Staff and the Office of Legal
Services for review and comment. Proponents must designate two people
as those representing the proponents in all matters affecting the petition.
Drafts are to be submitted in typewritten form and are to be written in
plain, non-technical language, using words with common and everyday
meaning understandable to the average reader.

Upon receiving the proposed measure, directors set a date for a
public hearing no later than two weeks from the date the measure is filed.
The director of the Legislative Council Staff provides proper notice of the
date, time, and place for the meeting. Measures accepted as a legal
filing are a matter of public record and are available for public
distribution.

Comments on proposed initiated measures are prepared by the
Legislative Council Staff and the Office of Legislative Legal Services for
review during the public hearing. The comments typically contain a
summary of the proposal followed by a series of questions concerning the
wording, intent, and purpose of the proposal. The Legislative Council Staff
and Legislative Legal Services directors may request the assistance of
state agencies in preparing the comments. Agencies are required to assist
when so requested. Proponents receive the comments prior to the
meeting, but the comments are not disclosed to the public before the
hearing, except with permission of the proponents.

The public hearing conducted by the Legislative Council Staff and
Legislative Legal Services is informal in nature. The purpose of the meeting
is to give the public notice that a proposal on a given topic is under
consideration and to review the purposes and wording with the
proponents so that the proposal states what the proponents want it to
state. The comments are intended to help proponents clarify their
proposal, but proponents are not required to accept the suggestions
made in the comments. The meeting is open to the public and, while
persons who may oppose a measure are welcome to attend, no
testimony or comments are accepted from anyone other than the
proponents. The meeting is tape recorded for the public record.

Following the public hearing, proponents may submit the measure to
the Secretary of State who chairs the Ballot Title Setting Board. The ballot
title, submission clause, and summary are established by a board
consisting of the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the
director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services.

The Ballot Title Setting Board usually completes its work on the ballot
title, submission clause, and summary at its first meeting. If the board is
unable to complete action on all of its agenda, motions for rehearing
may be continued until the board’s next meeting.

If a proponent or any registered elector claims that a ballot title,
submission clause, or summary is unfair or does not fairly express the
meaning of a proposal, that person may request a rehearing by the Ballot
Title Setting Board. Such request must be made within seven days after the
title and summary are set.

Such rehearing will be held at the next regularly scheduled meeting of
the board. If the board is unable to complete action on the request for
rehearing, consideration of the request may be continued until the next
available day, except that if the request was to be heard on the last
meeting date in May, it must be heard within 48 hours after the motion is
filed.

An appeal for change in the ballot title, submission clause, and
summary may be made to the Colorado Supreme Court, pursuant to
Section 1-40-107 (2) and (5), C.R.S.

Once the ballot title, submission clause, and summary are established,
petitions may then be circulated throughout the state to obtain the
required number of signatures.

If the Ballot Title Setting Board finds that more than
one subject is contained in a proposal, the proponents are permitted to
change the measure. If the changes by the proponents involve only the
removal of language to achieve a single subject, another review and
comment hearing with the Office of Legislative Legal Services and the
Legislative Council Staff may not be required. However, if the board finds
that revisions are so substantial that another hearing is in the public
interest, another review and comment hearing may be required.

If a proposal is revised and resubmitted to the board, a ballot title can
be set or the title board can conclude that the proposal still contains
more than one subject. In the event of a dispute over the single subject
rule, the board can set the title without including reference to the
provisions it thought was in violation of the rule. The constitution provides
that, if there is any part of a proposal not clearly expressed in the ballot
title, that part is to be considered void.

Excerpted from the Initiative & Referendum Almanac by M. Dane Waters.

Click here to view a copy of the state constitution.