How ballot initiatives play a role in Colorado policymaking

By Colorado Politics

For more than a century, Colorado voters have used the ballot box not just to elect leaders but also to make laws, shaping the state’s most defining policies through citizen-led initiatives.

Those two avenues of policymaking — the first by legislators, the second by citizens — yet represent another point of tension that is inherent to America’s grand experiment in representative democracy. At times, it leads to reaction and counter-reaction, both within and outside the state Capitol.

The threat of a ballot measure, for one, can prompt legislators to act.

Indeed, some see the initiative process as a counterbalance to the Colorado legislature, serving as a check on state policymakers, at times overriding their will. Others prefer the legislative process, with its committee hearings and voting requirements that — they argue — means a proposal is rigorously vetted before it becomes law.

Many agree that the initiative process is complex and expensive — and therefore out of reach to most, except for well-oiled groups, while acknowledging it remains among the most effective ways for citizens to actually get their voices heard and directly participate in shaping policies.

In the last election, Coloradans voted on 14 statewide initiatives, including provisions enshrining the right to abortion in the state’s constitution and prohibiting bail for some instances of first-degree murder.

Although only tax-related measures are allowed on the ballot in odd-numbered years, organizers behind proposals dealing with other issues have already begun the process of gathering signatures. To qualify for next year’s ballot, each petition must collect 124,238 valid signatures by Aug. 3, 2026.

Several of those proposed measures mirror bills that failed to pass during this year’s legislative session — one, for example, seeks to repeal the state’s retail delivery fee, which Republican legislators have unsuccessfully attempted to accomplish for two years.

Another measure, sponsored by the group Advance Colorado, aims to increase penalties for the manufacturing, possession and distribution of fentanyl, closely resembling another proposal that died from last session but which also includes a provision on mandatory treatment for individuals convicted of possessing more than 1 gram of the substance.

A similar bill also failed in the Democratic-controlled legislature in 2024.

The group is also working on an initiative to mandate state and local law enforcers to work with federal agencies on immigration enforcement. Specifically, the proposal would require local authorities to cooperate with requests to notify the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about releasing inmates, and detain the latter if they are charged with a violent crime or had been convicted with a prior felony.

A similar, but broader-reaching policy proposed in the legislature failed to pass through its first committee hearing.

Michael Fields, executive director of Advance Colorado, who successfully ran several ballot initiatives in 2024 dealing with the justice system, said the “tough on crime” approach tends to do better at the ballot box than in the legislature.

“These are things that poll 70-80%, and the legislature’s saying no, so this is the people’s outlet,” he said. “Citizens want to say that we disagree with what legislators are doing, and that’s why we have the citizen initiative process.”

When asked about the “disconnect” between legislators and voters on criminal justice issues, Fields suggested it is “more political and philosophical.”

“I think they assume that because they got elected, people agree with all of their views,” he said.

That tug and pull is at display within and outside the state Capitol.

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