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The last day to collect signatures required for Colorado ballot initiatives to be placed on the November 2022 ballot came and went on Aug. 8, and Colorado voters now have a better idea of what they can expect to see on the ballot in this year's upcoming election.

For background, a ballot initiative must receive 5% of the total votes cast for all candidates of the office of the secretary of state at the prior general election in order to be placed on the ballot for voter approval. This amounts to 124,632 signatures for the 2022 election. The last day to turn in signatures is three months before the Nov. 8 election, and these signatures must receive a sufficiency determination by the secretary of state no later than Sept. 7 to appear on the ballot.

While the secretary of state has not yet verified signatures for all ballot initiatives submitted at this stage, submitting signatures demonstrates that an initiative's proponents have confidence in their signature-gathering efforts. With this deadline now passed, it is possible to hypothesize which measures will appear on Colorado's November ballot and which will not.

One of the most discussed initiatives that missed the signature mark this year is Initiative No. 56, informally titled "Unlawful Murder of a Child." This measure concerned the hot-button issue of abortion, and specifically sought to define "murder of a child" and criminalize abortions by those who seek them and those who provide them. This is the seventh failed attempt to ban abortion in Colorado since 2000.

Another hot-button initiative that failed to gather the required number of signatures is Initiative No. 61, which sought to decriminalize possession of psilocybin-the chemical found in magic mushrooms-and legalize it in state-regulated settings. This initiative is separate and distinct from a different initiative to legalize psychoactive mushrooms, which had already obtained the required number of signatures before Nov. 8 and is already on the November ballot.

Initiative No. 63, known as the "Colorado Additional State Education Funding Initiative," is a third initiative that failed to obtain sufficient signatures. This initiative sought to alleviate some of the deficits in public education funding without raising the existing state income tax rate. Instead, it would reallocate a portion of the federal taxable income for individuals, estates, trusts and corporations into a state education fund.

Sponsors of six other initiatives in the signature-gathering phase did not turn their petitions in by the 5:00 p.m. deadline, including an initiative that sought to require certain investor-owned entities to give back a portion of revenue to ratepayers from electricity and natural gas sales.

In contrast, the measures that have met the statutory requirements, including the requisite number of signatures, and thus will appear on the November ballot are:

In addition, four other initiatives submitted signatures before the Aug. 8 deadline and are currently under signature review. If they are determined to meet the signature requirements, they too will be on the ballot. These initiatives are:

Finally, there are four referred measures that will be appearing on the November ballot that have been approved by the legislature for voter consideration. These initiatives include:

We will officially know all of the measures that will be on the ballot by Sept. 7. For more detailed information on the Colorado election cycle and Colorado's ballot initiatives, visit our comprehensive, online ballot tracker.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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