Colorado School Funding Initiative (2023)
| Colorado School Funding Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 7, 2023 | |
| Topic Education and Constitutional rights | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Colorado School Funding Initiative was not on the ballot in Colorado as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 7, 2023.
This initiative would have created a constitutional right for parents to direct per-pupil funding to a school of their choice, including public schooling, private schooling, charter schooling, and homeschooling.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for the initiative would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the right to school choice, and, in connection therewith, creating a right for parents and guardians to direct per pupil funding to schooling of their choice which includes public and private schooling; home schooling; and open enrollment? | ” |
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Colorado, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment 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. For initiated constitutional amendments, signature gathering must be distributed to include signatures equal to 2 percent of the registered voters who live in each of the state's 35 senate districts.
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.
Constitutional amendments in Colorado require a 55% supermajority vote to be ratified and added to the state constitution. This requirement was added by Amendment 71 of 2016.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2023 ballot:
- Signatures: 124,238 valid signatures
- Deadline: August 7, 2023
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
- Suzanne Taheri and Steven Ward filed the initiative.[1]
- Signatures were not submitted by the deadline on August 7, 2023.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Colorado Denver (capital) |
|---|---|
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