Colorado Board Rejects Broad Right To Know Ballot Proposal Over Scope Concerns

By Jeffrey A. Roberts | Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition

A state board on Wednesday declined to set the title for a proposed fall ballot initiative that would enshrine in the Colorado Constitution “a fundamental right to know the affairs of all levels of state and local government.”

Title Board Chair Theresa Conley said Initiative #286, proposed by Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute and Beth Hendrix of the League of Women Voters of Colorado, is too broad and therefore doesn’t meet the statutory and constitutional requirement that initiative titles concern a single subject.

Signature gathering for a ballot petition cannot begin unless a ballot title and a petition form are approved.

“Voters don’t know what they’re voting yes or no on,” Conley told Caldara and Hendrix. She said there are no protections in the proposal for law enforcement and the attorney-client privilege, “and this seems not just about open meetings and open records but also about information and knowledge that is beyond public documents.”

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