My mail ballot for the November election is sitting on the table in the entryway, unopened.
I’m almost afraid to open it, knowing the number of candidates and ballot measures I’m expected to weigh in on.
But maybe no one actually expects me to weigh in on everything? Maybe it’s just the overachiever living inside of me that expects that.
For a comment on Presidential candidate Donald Trump, you can check out today’s op-ed by Daily Post columnist John Tures.
Meanwhile, here’s some amateur election advice from a chronic overachiever, regarding the ballot measures on Colorado’s election ballot.
The Constitutional Amendments
Some of the 2024 ballot measures would modify the Colorado Constitution. Because amendments require approval by 55 percent of the voters, they are very difficult to change later, if they’re not working for some reason. At the same time, they are equally difficult for special interest groups to change, if they are working.
Five proposed Constitutional amendments — G, H, I, J, K — were submitted by the Colorado General Assembly.
Amendment G: Modify Property Tax Exemption for Veterans with Disabilities. This measure would reduce property taxes for certain veterans whose disability is rated as making them unemployable. Currently, this exemption is available only to veterans whose disability is rated as 100 percent permanent and total by the VA, and for surviving spouses of service members who died in the line of duty, or whose death resulted from service related injury or disease. The state government reimburses local governments for lost property taxes. I will be voting ‘YES’.
Amendment H: Judicial Discipline Procedures and Confidentiality. This amendment would create an independent adjudicative board made up of citizens, attorneys and judges to investigate possible misconduct by Colorado judges, and to impose disciplinary actions. Currently, judicial misconduct investigations are handled by a panel of judges who can keep the investigations secret. As a fan of government transparency, I will be voting ‘YES’.
Amendment I: Constitutional Bail Exception for First Degree Murder. This constitutional amendment would allow judges to deny bail for persons accused of first degree murder. Here in America, an accused person is considered innocent until proven guilty. We have no business amending our Colorado constitution to declare a person guilty until proven innocent, especially when judges occasionally make bad, and in some cases corrupt, decisions. I will be voting ‘NO’.
Amendment J: Repealing the Definition of Marriage in the Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Colorado Supreme Court have ruled that We the People are free to marry whomever we choose, so apparently the language in the Colorado Constitution defining a valid marriage as “a union between one man and one woman” violates the U.S. Constitution and the Colorado Constitution. I will be voting ‘YES’ to repeal the language, but it’s basically just a housekeeping measure at this point.
Amendment K: Modify Constitutional Election Deadlines. This amendment will give county clerks an extra week to prepare ballots for mailing to military and overseas voters, and sets an earlier deadline for publication of ballot measures in newspapers. It also requires petitions to be submitted a week earlier. I will be voting ‘YES’.
Two proposed Constitutional amendments were petitioned onto the ballot by citizen groups.
Amendment 79: Constitutional Right to Abortion. This amendment would make abortion an Constitutional right in Colorado and would repeal the existing Constitutional ban on state and local funding of abortion services. The question before us, here, is whether abortion is a matter of an individual woman’s access to professional medical assistance, or whether government has a preemptive right to control a woman’s body and her access to medical help. Tough decision. I will be voting ‘YES’ to support the individual woman’s right.
Amendment 80: Constitutional Right to School Choice. This amendment will insert into the Colorado Constitution some vague language about the right to publicly-funded education, and parents’ rights to direct the education of their children. Parents already have the right, in Colorado, to direct their children’s education, and we have a Schools of Choice Unit within the Colorado Department of Education that supports charter schools, online schools, innovation schools, homeschooling, and private schools. It seems to me, the central question posed by this proposed amendment is whether we maintain, in our system of education, a separation between Church and State. I will be voting ‘NO’… to maintain that separation.
Next, some amateur advice on the ballot measures — propositions which are statutory rather than constitutional, and which could be changed by a future legislature without requiring an election.
The Propositions
The first two propositions — JJ and KK — were placed on the ballot by the Colorado legislature.
Proposition JJ: Retain Additional Sports Betting Tax Revenue. This would allow the state to keep, and spend, tax revenue above the amount previously approved by the voters and use the money for water projects. In 2019, voters approved Proposition DD, legalizing sports betting and allowing the state to collect up to $29 million annually in tax money, to be used mainly for water projects . The taxes are collected from betting operators, and currently, any amount above $29 million is refunded to the operators. Last year, the revenue was more than $29 million and is expected to increase. I will be voting ‘YES’ . Disclosure: I serve on the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation Board, which occasionally benefits from state funding.
Proposition KK: Firearms and Ammunition Tax. This would create a new, 6.5% excise tax on sales of firearms, firearm parts, and ammunition, and allow the state to keep, and spend, all the money collected, instead of including it in TABOR refunds. Most of the money is scheduled for services provided to crime victims and veterans mental health services.
Considering all the excise taxes on marijuana, it’s only fair. I will be voting ‘YES’.
Proposition 127: Prohibit Bobcat, Lynx, and Mountain Lion Hunting. The Daily Post has shared multiple opinion pieces on this measure since August. I will be voting ‘YES’.
Proposition 128: Parole Eligibility for Crimes of Violence. Currently, a person convicted of certain crimes must serve 75% of their sentence, with credit for personal, professional and educational achievements. This law would increase the requirement to 85%; some repeat offenders would be ineligible for discretionary parole. Not all criminals are alike. I prefer to leave life-affecting decisions to a professional parole board, rather than to some ‘blanket’ law. I will be voting ‘NO’.