A balance needs to be restored to a lawmaking system that gives excessive power to elected officials influenced by paid lobbyists. This amendment restores that balance by ensuring that the people are allowed to influence the lawmaking process. If there are issues that large segments of Colorado citizens want to see addressed, then people should be able to bring them to the voters without unreasonable restrictions. Many actions taken by a school board or a county government impact people in a community more directly than actions of the state and federal governments. Petition powers that can now be exercised at the state and city level should be available to citizens of all other governments.
Citizens deserve a voice in decisions made by local governments.
Government should not be an adversary of the petition process by stopping petition efforts on the basis of technical or typographical errors. When citizens sign a petition, they have a right to expect that their signatures will count and will not be thrown out because of petty technicalities. Many of the current requirements regarding petition signature gathering and signature checking are unnecessary and overly stringent. A high standard of proof should be required before invalidating signatures. The proposal limits detailed requirements concerning petition circulators.