Amendment 85Constitutional amendment · Citizen initiative
Plain-language ballot questions
Explain it like I'm 5
Ballot questions would have to use simple words and be no harder than an eighth-grade reading level. It is like rewriting game instructions so more children can understand them without help.
Yes vote
Ballot questions must use plain language at no more than an eighth-grade reading level.
No vote
Current rules for writing ballot titles and questions remain in place.
The question to ask yourself
Is clearer wording worth the risk of losing precision or important details?
The case for
- Could help more voters understand what they are deciding.
- May reduce legal jargon and confusing wording.
- Creates a clear accessibility standard for state and local ballot questions.
Backed by: Advance Colorado, Brighter Colorado, Independence Institute, Republican Party of Colorado, Let Colorado Vote
The case against
- Complex legal and financial measures may lose important details when simplified.
- Reading formulas do not always show whether wording is accurate or understandable.
- The constitutional rule could create disputes over how readability is measured.
Opposed by: League of Women Voters of Colorado, The Bell Policy Center, New Era Colorado, Democratic Party of Colorado, Common Cause Colorado
- Money
- No significant direct cost was estimated.
- Don't be misled
- It is misleading to say the entire law must be written at an eighth-grade level, because the requirement concerns ballot-question language, not necessarily the full measure text.