1. READ THE LANGUAGE OF THE INITIATIVE. At the top of every petition there should be printed the actual language… that will be on the ballot, and if successful, what would become the law.
2. DON’T RELY ON THE SUMMARY THE SIGNATURE GATHERER GIVES YOU. Their sound bite may not tell you all you need to know about the initiative.
3. ASK if the initiative is for a constitutional amendment or a change in a statute. It’s extremely difficult to change one word of an amendment to the Colorado Constitution. To do so requires another statewide ballot initiative. A statute can be changed if there are some unintended consequence after it is enacted, so there is more flexibility than with a constitutional amendment.
4. IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’VE READ, DON’T SIGN IT! Several things have become law in the past couple of decades because voters didn’t really understand or didn’t take seriously what they were signing or to support getting on the ballot.
We offer these tips with the hope that you will make an informed choice when or sign or decline to sign a ballot initiative petition.
