Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.
Colorado Farm Animal Confinement Standards Initiative (2020)
| Colorado Farm Animal Confinement Standards Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Treatment of animals | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Colorado Farm Animal Confinement Standards Initiative (#314) was not on the ballot in Colorado as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.
The initiative would have established confinement standards for certain farm animals including egg-laying hens, breeding pigs, and calves raised for veal. The initiative would have created fines for violations of confinement standards.[1]
In a compromise deal to stop the ballot initiative from appearing on the ballot, the Colorado State Legislature passed House Bill 20-1343 and Governor Jared Polis (D) signed it into law on July 1, 2020. The bill required all eggs in Colorado to be cage-free by 2025.[2][3]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Initiative 314 would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning the confinement standards for certain farm animals used in commercial production, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting the confinement without adequate space of egg-laying hens of domesticated fowl, calves raised for veal, and breeding pigs; prohibiting a business from selling eggs or meat produced from covered farm animals confined without adequate space; allowing certain exceptions to the requirement for adequate space for covered farm animals; imposing a fine for violations of the confinement standards; and directing the commissioner of agriculture to enforce the provision?[4] | ” |
Full text
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Colorado, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 5 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office of Colorado secretary of state in the preceding general election. State law provides that petitioners have six months to collect signatures after the ballot language and title are finalized. State statutes require a completed signature petition to be filed three months and three weeks before the election at which the measure would appear on the ballot. The Constitution, however, states that the petition must be filed three months before the election at which the measure would appear. The secretary of state generally lists a date that is three months before the election as the filing deadline.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 124,632 valid signatures
- Deadline: August 3, 2020[5]
The secretary of state is responsible for signature verification. Verification is conducted through a review of petitions regarding correct form and then a 5 percent random sampling verification. If the sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required valid signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If the sampling projects more than 110 percent of the required signatures, the initiative is certified. If less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.
Details about this initiative
- John Surenkamp and John Seber filed the initiative on April 3, 2020. A ballot title was set for it on April 15, 2020.[1]
See also
External links
- Colorado Secretary of State: Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results
- Initiatives filed with the Legislative Council Staff
- Initiative 314 full text
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Colorado Secretary of State, "2019-2020 Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results," accessed April 17, 2020
- ↑ Colorado Sun, "All Colorado eggs must be cage-free by 2025 under law passed to head off stricter ballot measure," accessed July 2, 2020
- ↑ Colorado State Legislature, "Egg-laying Hen Confinement Standards," accessed July 2, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ On May 17, 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) signed Executive Order D 2020 065, which temporarily suspended the state law requiring signatures to be submitted six months after ballot language finalization. Under the order, signatures for 2020 Colorado initiatives were due by August 3, 2020.
 |
State of Colorado Denver (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
