Initiative and Referendum Procedures in Eleven Colorado Municipalities

• Publication year: 1997
• Pages: 113

26 Colo.Law. 113 Colorado Lawyer 1997.

1997, October, Pg. 113. Initiative and Referendum Procedures in Eleven Colorado Municipalities

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113

Vol. 26, No. 10, Pg. 113

The Colorado Lawyer
October 1997
Vol. 26, No. 10 [Page 113]

Specialty Law Columns
Local Government Newsletter
Initiative and Referendum Procedures in Eleven Colorado Municipalities
by Randall W. Sampson

Issues relating to municipal initiative and referendum procedures can be broken down into those arising prior to the filing of a petition and those involving treatment of the petition after it has been filed with the municipality Pre-petition issues include percentage-of-population requirements for signature gathering, the period of time allowed for petition circulation, and the extent of city involvement in the setting of ballot titles prior to petition circulation. Post-petition issues include the signature-verification process, the allowance or disallowance of a "protest" period (for opponents to attack the sufficiency of the petition), and the allowance or disallowance of a "cure" period (during which proponents are allowed to remedy deficiencies in the petition)

To ascertain the spectrum of treatment of these issues, and better allow for an assessment of the relative merits of those varying treatments, a survey of eleven Colorado municipalities1 was conducted by this author, with the following results

Initiative Referendum

Lakewood 5% 3%

Greenwood
Village 5% 5%

Arvada 5% (G) 5%

7.5% (S)

Denver 5% (G) 5% (G)

15% (S) 10% (S)

Boulder 5% (G) 10%

15% (S)

Westminster 10% 10%, 5%*

Thornton 10% 10%

Ft. Collins 10% (G) 10%

15% (S)

Aspen 15% 10%

Aurora 15% 10%

Colorado
Springs 20% 15%

G = General Election, S = Special Election, * = utility franchises

% of registered electors % of total votes cast

AS OF (AT) LAST
GENERAL/REGULAR
ELECTION Aspen, Lakewood,
Thornton, Westminster Aurora, Ft. Collins

AT LAST
MAYOR'S ELECTION Colorado Springs,
Denver

AS OF DATE
PETITION FILED Arvada,* Boulder

AS OF DATE
FORM OF PETITION
APPROVED BY CLERK Greenwood Village

* For referendum purposes, date that "notice of intent" is filed.

Pre-Petition Stage

Percentage Required to Sign

The initiative and the referendum process each typically requires the filing of a petition containing signatures of a certain percentage of a designated electoral population. As depicted in the top chart, percentage requirements vary relatively widely among the eleven municipalities surveyed.

The particular electoral population on which a percentage is calculated also varies, as does the date on which the calculation is made. The electoral population utilized is typically that of "registered electors," as of a given date, or "total votes cast" in a given election. The population base and date used by each of the eleven municipalities is set out in the bottom chart.

Depending on the particular elements of the equation--percentage requirement, electoral population utilized, date of calculation--significantly different signature-gathering burdens may be imposed from one city to another. With respect to the electoral population, for example, signature gatherers in Denver have a much easier task getting a measure before the voters, by meeting the required threshold of 5 percent of votes cast at the last mayor's election, than they would were the city charter to require the signatures of 5 percent of registered electors, presumably a significantly larger pool in which to swim, or drown, as the case may be.

The percentages themselves, detached from the rest of the equation, also can be misleading. If, for example, 80 of 100 eligible residents are registered to vote, but only 40 (50 percent) actually do vote, Thornton would require eight signatures (10 percent of 80 registered voters). So, also, would Colorado Springs, but based on a different calculation (20 percent of 40 votes cast).

The Colorado Constitution, however, prohibits a city from using a number that represents more than 15 percent of the registered electors in setting signature requirements for an initiative petition.2 A city that bases its percentage requirements on votes cast, as opposed to registered electors, in theory may create constitutional infirmities if both the percentage threshold and voter turnout are high. A percentage requirement of 20 percent, for example, coupled with a voter turnout of over 75 percent of registered electors, requires more signatures than the constitution allows.3 Accordingly, a percentage requirement that is based on the number of registered voters, as exists under the charter provisions of a majority of the municipalities surveyed, seems clearly superior in terms of long-term stability and predictability.

In terms of the required percentage thresholds themselves, Arvada requires relatively few signatures either to initiate a proposed ordinance or to refer an ordinance passed by city council to a vote of the people. In relation to the other ten municipalities surveyed, Arvada is surpassed only by Lakewood and Greenwood Village in its generosity to signature gatherers.

An increase in the percentage figure itself represents, of course, additional efforts required of those seeking to initiate or repeal an ordinance. Viewed from a different perspective, such an increase provides an added measure of stability and safeguards the initiative/referendum process from abuse, the trivial, or the special-interest motivated. While increasing the percentage threshold to the maximum allowed by the Colorado Constitution presumably is at least a theoretical option for many municipalities, such may require a charter amendment which, in turn, would typically require a vote of the people.

Pre-filing Review of Petition

Another area in which the eleven surveyed municipalities differ in their treatment of the processes of initiative and referendum is that of staff review of the petition's form and...