Don't Sign That Petition - Yet!

You see them everywhere including farmers’ markets, grocery stores, on downtown sidewalks and street fairs. “Will you sign this petition?” You take a quick glance, see that it seems reasonable and quickly scrawl your John Hancock so you can get on your way.

Anyone can initiate the process for placing a constitutional amendment or statutory proposition on the statewide ballot. The process for actually getting the initiative on the ballot is lengthy and one step includes collecting a certain number of signatures. The number required for ballots on the 2025 or 2026 statewide ballot is 124,238. Initiatives that wish to change the Colorado constitution must be signed by at least 2% of the total registered voters in each of the 35 Colorado state senate districts.

Before you sign a petition, make sure you know exactly what you are signing. “Bad” initiatives (from a progressive point of view) often have innocuous-sounding names. The Colorado Secretary of State (SOS) website posts the full text of initiatives, along with their designated representatives. You can use Tracer and Google to find out more information on the designated representatives, which can give you insight into their motives.

For example, a citizens’ group is hoping to put an initiative titled “Labor Organization Affiliation and Dues” on a statewide ballot, likely in 2026 since in odd years ballot measures typically address fiscal issues. Sounds pretty good, right? As progressives, we generally support unions. Opening the details on the website reveals that Jon Caldara and Nash Herman are the designated representatives. Using Tracer to research contributions, we find that Jon Caldara donates to republican candidates and right-wing causes. Following up with a Google search, our Tracer findings are confirmed; Jon Caldara is the host of a program on a conservative radio show and is president of The Independence Institute. He has “dedicated his professional life to stop bullies who use the coercive power of government to force their values on those who don’t share them, and to take from others.” Nash Herman does not have a record on Tracer, but a quick Google search shows that he is a Policy Analyst and the Independence Institute.

So that great-sounding petition, really is probably not all that great if you support progressive values. Our advice when encountering someone collecting signatures for an initiative petition:

1.     Research the initiative before signing any petition. Your first encounter with a signature-gathering team will not be your only chance to sign the petition.

2.     Always ask if the person is being paid to collect signatures and, if so, by whom. This information will help you research the initiative. We recommend not signing petitions circulated by paid signature collectors.

3.     Only sign an initiative petition if you are 100% it is for an initiative consistent with your values.