Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.

Laws governing local ballot measures in Colorado

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Laws governing ballot measures in the U.S.
BallotLaw final.png

Laws governing ballot measures in the U.S.

Changes to laws governing ballot measures

Types of ballot measures

Ballot measure policy topics

Select a state from the dropdown to learn more about laws governing ballot measures in that state.

This page describes the state constitutional provisions and statutes that govern local ballot measures in Colorado. Jurisdictions often establish additional rules within the parameters of state law; those can be found in local ordinances and home-rule charters.

Explore the links below for more information:

Law

The Colorado Constitution and Colorado Revised Statutes establish the rules that govern local ballot measures in the state.

General

The following outlines the general rules that govern local ballot measures in Colorado, including both citizen-initiated measures and referred measures from local government bodies.

  • Election timing: In Colorado, election timing differs depending on how the measure was placed on the ballot:
    • Municipalities:
      • Elections for amendments to home rule charters are held at least 60 days after the publication of a public notice of an election by the local governing body.[1]
      • Elections for proposed ordinances are held between at least 60 and 150 days after the petition has been deemed sufficient and the local legislative body does not immediately adopt it.[2]
    • Counties:
      • Elections for proposed amendments, repeals, or charter convention measures are held between at least 30 and 120 days after the board of county commissioners publish a public notice.[3]
      • Elections for charter commissions are held at least 60 days after the board of county commissioners publish a public notice.[3]
  • Vote requirements: All local ballot measures in Colorado require a simple majority vote to be approved.[1][2][3]
  • Required ballot measures:
    • The Colorado Revised Statutes require voter-approved ballot measures for the following:[4][5]
      • Issuing bonds.
      • Annexing cities or towns.
    • Additionally, Colorado has two different types of ballot measures that are required under two different laws:
      • The Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which is under Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, requires voter approval when local school districts want to exceed their tax levy above the combined rate of inflation and population increase as measured by either the cost of living index at the state level, or growth in property values at the local level.
      • The School Finance Act of 1994 requires voter approval when a local school district wants to exceed the limit for raising its Total Program Budget, which includes the district's general fund, special education fund, and other costs.

Initiatives

The following outlines the general rules that govern local citizen-initiated ballot measures in Colorado.

  • Authority:
    • Article V, Section 1(9) of the Colorado Constitution grants the power of initiative and referendum to every municipality. However, there is no mention of the same authority for counties.
    • C.R.S. 31-2-212 states that homer rule charters must have provisions for initiative and referendum.[6]
    • C.R.S. 31-2-210 governs the process for initiating amendments to home rule charters.[1]
    • C.R.S. 31-11-104 grants voters the ability to submit petitions for ordinances within their city or town.[2]
    • C.R.S. 30-11-506 mandates a process for initiative for charter amendments in charter counties.[3]
    • C.R.S. 30-11-508 mandates that charter counties (Weld and Pitkin) have an initiative process for county measures.[7]
  • Signatures:
    • Article V, Section 1(9) of the Colorado Constitution establishes that no more than 10% of the registered electors may be required to order a referendum, and no more than 15% may be required to propose an initiative.
    • Initiatives for charter amendments must be signed by at least 5% of the registered electors of the county.[3]
    • Initiatives to repeal a charter or to form a new charter commission must be signed by at least 15% of the registered electors of the county.[3]
    • Initiatives for proposed ordinances must be signed by at least 5% of the registered electors of the city or town.[3]
  • Deadline:
    • Signatures for charter amendments, repeals, or measures to form a new charter commission in municipalities must be gathered within 90 days from the date of filing.[1]
    • There are no statewide deadlines for initiatives at the county level. Specific deadlines are published in local charters.

Referrals

The following outlines the general rules that govern local referred ballot measures in Colorado.

  • Authority:
    • C.R.S. 30-11-506 grants the governing body of a county the ability to propose charter amendments.[3]
    • C.R.S. 31-11-111 grants the governing body of any municipality the ability to submit proposed or adopted ordinances to a vote of the registered electors of the municipality.[8]
    • C.R.S. 31-2-210 authorizes the governing body of a municipality to propose repeals or the formation of a charter commission by a two-thirds vote.[1]
  • Deadline: Charter amendments, repeals, or charter convention measures must put on the ballot by a local legislative body must publish a notice of election within 30 days of adoption. For amendments and repeals, an election must be held between 30 and 120 days after the date of publication. For charter convention measures, an election must be held at least 60 days after publication.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

Laws governing local ballot measures in the U.S.

Laws governing local ballot measures in the United States

As state laws govern ballot measures, the rules are different from state to state. Click on a state below to explore that state's laws on local ballot measures.

http://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_local_ballot_measures_in_STATE

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Colorado Legal Resources, "C.R.S. 31-2-210," accessed November 25, 2025
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Colorado Legal Resources, "C.R.S. 31-11-104," accessed November 25, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Colorado Legal Resources, "C.R.S. 30-11-506," accessed November 25, 2025
  4. ↑ Colorado Legal Resources, "C.R.S. 31-15-302," accessed November 25, 2025
  5. ↑ Colorado Legal Resources, "C.R.S. 31-12-412," accessed November 25, 2025
  6. ↑ Colorado Legal Resources, "C.R.S. 31-2-212," accessed November 25, 2025
  7. ↑ Colorado Legal Resources, "C.R.S. 30-11-508," accessed November 25, 2025
  8. ↑ Colorado Legal Resources, "C.R.S. 31-11-111," accessed November 25, 2025
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Laws_governing_local_ballot_measures_in_Colorado&oldid=11057194"