Colorado's 14 ballot measures include abortion, hunting, ranked choice voting

Marianne Goodland marianne.goodland@coloradopolitcs.com - Sep 16, 2024 Updated Oct 5, 2024

Secretary of State Jena Griswold officially certified the 2024 election ballot on Sept. 10, which includes 14 statewide ballot measures.

The legislature referred half of the constitutional amendments and propositions, while citizens initiated the rest.

Proposals that seek to change the Colorado Constitution require 55% of the vote to pass, while statutory measures require a simple majority. A quick note on the language: Propositions are statutory changes; amendments are constitutional changes.

Here are the measures referred to the ballot by the legislature.

Amendment 79

This measure enshrines the right to abortion in the Colorado Constitution and allows for the use of public funds for abortion services, reversing a 1984 initiative known as Amendment 3. 

Collectively, opponents Pro Life Colorado Fund, Vote No on 79*, Colorado Life Initiative raised just over $61,000 as of Aug. 28, according to the state's campaign finance system. The Pro Life Colorado Fund is backed by the Colorado Catholic Conference, which is the voice of Colorado's Catholic bishops. Colorado Right to Life is backing Vote No on 79* and is its biggest contributor at $4,209 out of $9,000 raised. The Colorado Life Initiative has raised the most of the three groups at just over $41,000. It's backed by Angela Eicher and Faye Barnhart, advocates who have tried several times to get anti-abortion initiatives on the ballot, most recently last year. Eicher is the committee's biggest donor so far at $5,870.

On the other side, Coloradans for Reproductive Freedom has raised $6 million in the past year, with several COBALT-affiliated groups contributing $2.3 million. In July, COBALT Advocates paid for a $1 million TV ad buy for the committee, which spent $1.5 million on TV ads in July and August.

COBALT Advocates is a 501(c)4, meaning it does not have to disclose its funders. A 990 form filed last year by COBALT Advocates showed it raised less than $450,000 and spent more than $850,000 in 2022. It launched the campaign for gathering signatures on Amendment 79 last October.

This is the first time abortion advocates have tried to enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution. Outside of the state Capitol, there have been at least nine annual efforts to ban abortion through the ballot initiative process. Only three ever reached voters, who rejected those measures. 

Editor's note: the ballot initiative for Amendment 79 was initiative 89. The group opposing the amendment has changed both its website address and committee name to No on 79.

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