Denver Ballot Guide

Search denvergov.org for “Ballot Question Guide”

State Ballot Guide

Search online for “Colorado Ballot Information Booklet 2019”

Why are we voting on these things?

People often wonder why they have to vote on obscure, technical changes in the city charter election after election.

That’s because the charter is basically the city’s constitution so can be amended only by voters, as is the case with the Colorado constitution.

The problem is that over the decades the constitution and the charter have been bulked up with provisions that probably should have been handled in state laws or city ordinances. Changing such provisions still requires voter approval.

What about other ballot measures?

You may have read about other ballot measures and wonder why they won’t be on the November ballot. Here’s what happened:

A proposed recall of Gov. Jared Polis failed to gather enough signatures to make the statewide ballot.

Sufficient signatures were gathered by the campaign to force a public vote on the National Popular Vote law passed by the legislature last spring. But that won’t be on the ballot until next year. (States that join the popular vote movement commit to casting their Electoral College votes for the winner of the national popular vote for president, regardless of how state citizens voted.)

Some council members pushed a proposal to tax energy use by Denver businesses and use the revenue for city sustainability programs. That was shelved because of Hancock’s opposition. A similar citizen-proposed plan may be on the Denver ballot in 2020.

Todd Engdahl is owner of Capitol Editorial Services, a firm that provides legislative coverage, intelligence and analysis to private clients. During a long career as an editor and public policy writer, he served as executive city editor of The Denver Post, founder of DenverPost.com and founder of Education News Colorado, which later became part of Chalkbeat Colorado.