Early voting for the 2024 general election begins on Oct. 21 in Colorado. Voters will decide 14 statewide ballot measures — and local ballot questions too. The “Blue Book” voter guide is 88 pages, so being informed requires a real time commitment. This is why governing via plebiscite often leads to bad public policy, contradictory constitutional provisions, and allows state legislators to sidestep difficult questions they should resolve through a deliberative process. The counter argument is that ballot measures allow citizens to force votes on issues they believe the state government is ignoring or got wrong.

Colorado has exploited easy ballot access, and the outcomes are mixed at best. Amendments and propositions with letters have been referred to the ballot by the state legislature. Amendments and propositions with numbers are citizen-initiated ballot questions.

Some are common-sense changes, such as Amendment H, which provides more transparency in judicial misconduct and discipline cases; and Amendment I, which restores the ability for judges to deny bail to suspects charged with first degree murder. As I understand it, the ability to deny bail for first degree murder charges was struck down as part of repealing the death penalty in Colorado. Similarly, Proposition 128 increases the amount of prison time people convicted of certain violent crimes must serve from 75% to 85% before becoming eligible for discretionary parole or earned time sentence reductions. It also makes persons convicted of a third violent crime ineligible for parole.

Other ballot measures likely to pass are more controversial. Amendment J repeals the “one man, one woman” definition of marriage voted into the Colorado constitution in 2006, and by omission formally recognizes same-sex marriages and perhaps other marriage arrangements in the future. Amendment 79 would make abortion a constitutional right in Colorado. Colorado already has statutory abortion laws that are considerably more liberal than what was enshrined in Roe v. Wade, which allowed restrictions on abortions in the second and third trimesters. Arguably, passing Amendment 79 would make it almost impossible to ever place restrictions on morally and ethically reprehensible abortion procedures like late-term abortions.

Unlikely to pass, due to vehement opposition from teacher unions, is Amendment 80 which would empower parents and create a constitutional right to K-12 school choice, including public, private, and home schooling. Public education is underperforming academically, God forbid the entrenched public education establishment could lose its monopolistic control over taxpayer dollars and be held to higher academic performance standards.

There are ballot measures that should be overwhelmingly rejected. Proposition 127 would prohibit bobcat, lynx, and mountain lion hunting. If mountain county voters have learned anything from the wolf reintroduction debacle, it should be that wildlife management policies are best delegated to wildlife management experts and should not be dictated by uninformed emotionalism at the ballot box.

Even worse, Proposition 131 would establish ranked choice voting in Colorado. This concept has been a disaster everywhere it has been tried.  It would apply to most Colorado-specific federal and all statewide offices. Voters would be asked to rank their candidate preference for each office from 1-4, in open primaries and in the general election. The problem is, rather than affirming consensus candidates, the process often promotes fringe candidates, with few total votes, appearing on the ballot — and multiple ballots for each election. If a candidate does not win an outright majority, the candidate with the fewest total votes is dropped from the ballot, and subsequent elections must be held until a candidate receives over 50% of all votes cast.

This year, Alaska is facing a ranked choice voting debacle. A federal prisoner in New York and a secession advocate were both elevated onto the ballot for Alaska’s U.S. Representative, because two Republican candidates dropped off the ballot to consolidate the GOP vote behind one candidate. Alaska Democrats are suing to have the default candidates removed because they fear voters will be confused between their preferred Democrat candidate and the New York prisoner, who is also listed on the ballot as a Democrat.  Ironically, Alaskans will also vote on a ballot measure this November to repeal ranked choice voting. Like socialism, just because others have tried it doesn’t mean it is a good idea. Vote NO on Proposition 131.

Bruce Butler's column "Common Sense Conversations" publishes biweekly on Tuesdays in the Summit Daily News. Butler is a former mayor and council member in Silverthorne, where he has lived for 20 years. Contact him at butlerincolorado@gmail.com.