Colorado voters determined the fate of 11 separate ballot issues Tuesday – everything from reforming an amendment in the state Constitution that had businesses paying an ever-increasing amount of the property tax burden every two years to introducing gray wolves to some parts of the Western Slope.
Here are some early returns from across the state on the ballot issues as covered by The Colorado Sun, a news website covering Colorado.
A measure that would ban abortions in Colorado after 22 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk, failed Tuesday night.
Both supporters and opponents of Proposition 115 had predicted a tight battle over what supporters of the ban call “late-term abortion,” but opponents declared victory about an hour after the polls closed.
“We voted no because we trust patients and families to make the personal medical decisions that are right for them, without political interference,” Vote No on 115 campaign manager Lucy Olena said. “We voted no to keep Colorado a safe haven for abortion access because no one should have to cross borders to get the medical care they need.”
The measure went down 40% to 60%, according to unofficial returns but with about 75% of the vote tallied.
Voters appeared to accomplish Tuesday what Colorado Democrats could not for the past six years at the state Legislature: a statewide paid-leave program for workers who want time off to have a baby or care for a sick loved one.
The ballot measure was passing 56.5% to 43.5% according to early unofficial returns and 65% of votes tallied. It requires workers and employers to pay into an insurance pool run by the Colorado Department of Labor. Beginning in 2024, workers could apply to the fund to receive pay during time off from work, up to $1,100 per week.
The program is for all workers, including state employees, people who are self-employed and even gig workers who drive for Uber or food-delivery companies. Workers are eligible after they’ve earned $2,500 at their job. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees can choose not to participate and companies that already offer comparable paid time off for new babies or illnesses are exempt.
Proposition 118 creates a $1.3 billion program that was hammered by opponents as a tax increase for employers and employees at a time when businesses are struggling. For supporters, though, the message was that there is no time like a pandemic to build a culture where employees get paid time off to care for someone who is ill.
Early voting results on Tuesday showed wolf reintroduction as one of the tightest contests on Tuesday’s ballot, with voters narrowly approving of Proposition 114. The measure would direct Colorado Parks and Wildlife to come up with a plan to reintroduce gray wolves to the Western Slope by the end of 2023.
Proposition 114 was leading by fewer than 20,000 votes with more than 2.6 million votes counted by 9 p.m. Tuesday night. The measure would have marked the first time that voters – not federal wildlife biologists – directed state officials to reintroduce wolves. Wolf re-establishment in the Northern Rockies, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina and Great Lakes region was done under direction of the federal government and the Endangered Species Act.
Bill Haggerty, a Democrat from Grand Junction, said Proposition 114 was the toughest issue for him on this ballot. Haggerty, an author of hiking and outdoor guidebooks, is a former information specialist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. He has been listening to many arguments for both sides from a large network of former wildlife workers.
“I could have gone either way, but I voted against it,” Haggerty said.
The early voting results showed a split along urban and rural lines in Colorado, with voters in eight of 11 Front Range counties approving the measure while the state’s more rural counties on the plains and Western Slope leaned away.
Last week, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the gray wolf was no longer protected under endangered species laws, meaning protection of wolves would transfer to states. (The delisting is expected to be challenged in court.)
Colorado already has a law protecting wolves as a “species of concern” that makes it illegal to kill the predators, unlike Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, where federal delisting in 2008 made it legal to hunt and trap the large canines. And wolves already are migrating south into the state, with wildlife officials documenting a pack earlier this year in northwest Colorado.
Supporters of Proposition 114 said the delisting only amplified the need for more protection and formal reintroduction of wolves. Opponents of the ballot measure said the delisting proved that wolf populations in the country are healthy and formal reintroduction was not needed.
As of 10:20 p.m., repeal of the Gallagher Amendment was leading with 57.6% of the voters supporting it and 42.4% opposing.
A Yes vote for Amendment B would repeal the Gallagher Amendment to the Colorado Constitution. The Gallagher Amendment currently requires residential property taxes to equal 45% of the total share of property taxes and nonresidential property taxes to equal 55%.
In Colorado, the value of home prices has been going up faster than the value of nonresidential property. That has led the tax assessment rate for homes to drop over time, meaning homeowners often see lower property tax bills after each two-year reassessment cycle.
When the Gallagher Amendment was adopted in 1982, 21% of the value of a home was taxed. The current tax assessment rate for residential property is 7.15%.
Many small districts such as local fire departments are seeing lower revenues because most of their property tax base is made up of homes, not businesses.
As of 10:20 p.m., 51.6% of voters were supporting this measure with 48.4% opposing it.
A Yes vote for Amendment C changes the state constitutional requirements making it easier for organizations, usually nonprofits and churches, to obtain a charitable bingo-raffle gaming license. Nonprofits must be in existence for five years before they can get a bingo-raffle license. Amendment C could cut that to three years.
Amendment C is the only ballot measure that requires more than a simple majority to pass. It requires a 55% Yes vote to pass.
As of 10:20 p.m., 62.3% of the voters favored this measure with 37.7% against it.
A Yes vote for Amendment 76 would amend the Constitution to state that only a citizen of the United States who is 18 years of age can vote. The measure would end Colorado’s constitutional right for 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 before the subsequent general election.
As of 10:20 p.m., 59.3% of voters supported this measure.
A Yes vote for Amendment 77 would allow the towns of Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek to set the maximum allowable single bet limit to any amount and to expand the games they provide.
No mention is made about the effect of this amendment on Southwest Colorado’s tribal casinos, but past legal interpretations have found any loosening of state law on gaming for the Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek casinos also applies to the tribal casinos.
As of 10:20 p.m., 68.5% of voters supported this measure.
A Yes vote for Proposition EE would raise taxes by up to $294 million annually by imposing a tax on nicotine liquids, e-cigarettes and other vaping products that is equal to the state tax on traditional tobacco products. The tax would be phased in incrementally.
The new taxes would fund preschool programs, rural schools, K-12 education, affordable housing and rental assistance, eviction legal assistance, health care programs, general state spending and tobacco education programs.
As of 9:40 p.m., 52.7% of voters were for this measure and 47.2% were opposed.
A Yes vote on Proposition 113 would support Colorado joining the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would give the state’s nine Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.
If Colorado becomes a member of the NPVIC and if the compact goes into effect, Colorado will give all nine of its Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate winning the most votes nationwide, the winner of the national popular vote. Currently, Colorado’s nine Electoral College votes go to the presidential candidate receiving the most votes from Coloradans.
The compact would go into effect only if states representing 270 Electoral College votes adopt it. Currently, 14 states and Washington, D.C. – 187 Electoral College votes total – have passed legislation to join the compact.
As of 10:20 p.m. 56.5% of voters supported this measure and 43.4% were opposed.
A Yes vote on Proposition 116 would decrease the state income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55% for individuals, estates, trusts and “C” corporations doing business in the state.
Before 1987, Colorado’s individual income tax rates were graduated, meaning those with higher incomes paid higher taxes, and those with lower incomes paid less in taxes. The Colorado individual income tax rate has been a flat tax rate since 1987. The flat tax was 5% from 1987 to 1998. It was lowered to 4.75% in 1999. The rate has been 4.63% since 2000.
As of 10:20 p.m., 57% of voters supported this measure and 43% were opposed.
A Yes vote for Proposition 117 would support requiring statewide voter approval of new state enterprises if projected or actual revenue from fees and surcharges to support the new enterprise is greater than $100 million in its first five years.
Enterprises were established through the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, often called TABOR, a 1992 state constitutional amendment. Enterprises are government-owned businesses that provide goods or services for a fee or surcharge that is paid for by the individuals or entities that are purchasing the goods or services.
