Tag: Amendment 53

It will likely take planning, preparation and perseverance to get through the longest ballot in Colorado history amid unprecedented turnout for the historic 2008 election. Even though more than half of the state's active voters have already cast a ballot, it all comes down to Election Day, when as many as one million Colorado residents will trek to their local polling place and exercise their right to vote.

Colorado's gargantuan ballot includes more than 14 constitutional amendments and referenda even after four measures were withdrawn on Oct. 2 by proponents after a surprise alliance of labor and business interests joined forces to oppose three anti-union amendments that remain. The Colorado Independent is putting the press to the test — we're compiling newspaper endorsements, analyzing them and then tracking the persuasive talents of editorial boards statewide.

Unions and business groups in the state announced today the formation of a massive joint campaign against three anti-union initiatives on the state ballot, following an agreement by labor to pull four other ballot questions that would have strictly regulated business practices in the state.

A state advocacy group of conservative Democrats is stepping into the fray between business interests and unions by taking a position opposing labor-backed ballot measures that would provide workers injured on the job with stronger legal rights and require employers to state a “just cause” for firing an employee.

Seems like this year's political messaging is all about who's going to do what in the middle of the night. First, Hillary Clinton capitalized on our fear of things that go bump in the night with her primary commercial. "It's 3:00 a.m and your children are safe and asleep," a narrator says while images of sleeping babies flash across the screen. "But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something is happening in the world. Your vote will decide who will answer that call."

Unions and business groups in Colorado are preparing for what now seems to be an inevitable ballot war between the two political titans, with one side opposing a measure that would restrict the way unions organize and the other side determined to fight two labor-backed amendments regulating employer conduct.

Colorado voters haven't faced a ballot this long since 1912, the first year citizens were able to initiate laws in the state. After striking a pro-affirmative action measure for insufficient signatures Wednesday night, the Secretary of State's office drew a line under a total 18 statewide questions for the November ballot -- 14 initiated by citizens and four referred by the State Legislature.

A measure that would toughen fraud penalties against corporate executives was approved for the 2008 state ballot on Monday by the secretary of state's office.