CCLP Ballot Guide 2026
Colorado voters will decide an unusually large number of statewide ballot measures this November. The results of this election day could affect many aspects of Coloradans’ daily lives. As an antipoverty organization, Colorado Center on Law and Policy evaluates these measures through an economic justice lens, examining how each proposal could affect people currently experiencing—and those who are at risk of experiencing—poverty. We focused on systems that influence Coloradans’ access to food, health care, housing, and income, as well as civil rights and access to justice.
Our analysis considers more than a measure’s stated purpose. We examine who is likely to benefit, who could be burdened or excluded, and whether the measure addresses the underlying causes of poverty and inequity or only the symptoms.
This guide provides a brief summary of each statewide ballot measure, along with CCLP’s positions, where applicable. We have conducted more detailed analyses of three measures we believe are especially significant this year—Amendment 87, Proposition NN, and Proposition 136—and will be releasing those analyses soon. For a deeper examination of the full ballot from a trusted, nonpartisan source, we also encourage voters to consult the ballot explainer published by Count Me In.
CCLP's Quick Takes
Amendment 81 – Law Enforcement Reporting Requirements to Federal Authorities
CCLP recommends: NO
Amendment 81 would require certain law enforcement personnel to notify federal immigration authorities when someone suspected of lacking legal status is charged with specified crimes, even though a charge is not a conviction. This mandate could separate families, deepen racial inequities, and make immigrant communities less likely to seek help or report crimes. This negatively impacts our economy, goes against our principles of due process, and Coloradans are not made safer because of this measure.
Amendment 82 – Constitutional Right to Purchase and Sell Natural Gas
CCLP recommends: NO
Amendment 82 would create a constitutional right to purchase and sell natural gas, potentially limiting state and local efforts to transition toward cleaner energy. Locking this protection into the constitution could prolong pollution and volatile energy costs that disproportionately burden low-income communities and communities of color.
Amendment 83 – Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish
CCLP takes no position
Amendment 83 would create a constitutional right to hunt and fish and designate those activities as preferred methods of wildlife management.
Amendment 84 – Mail Ballot Voter Identification
CCLP recommends: NO
Amendment 84 would require mail voters to provide identifying numbers such as parts of your social security number or state identification number in addition to signing their ballot envelopes. This unnecessary additional requirement could disenfranchise eligible voters and would create particular barriers for people with disabilities, unstable housing, limited identification access, or transportation and technology challenges, in addition to any privacy concerns.
Amendment 85 – Plain Language Ballot Titles
CCLP recommends: NO
Amendment 85 would require ballot questions to meet an undefined eighth grade reading standard while restricting language intended to explain a measure’s fiscal consequences. Plain language is important, but voters should not lose disclosures showing who will pay, who will benefit, and how a proposal could affect public services.
Amendment 86 – Requirements for Off-Cycle Congressional Redistricting
CCLP takes no position
Amendment 86 would establish additional constitutional restrictions and procedures for congressional redistricting outside the regular post-census cycle.
Amendment 87 – Graduated Income Tax
CCLP recommends: YES!
Amendment 87 would cut income taxes for approximately 97 percent of Coloradans while asking the highest-income individuals and corporations to contribute more, on a graduated level. The measure would make Colorado’s tax system fairer and generate approximately $2 billion annually for K-12 public education, health care, and early childhood care.
Proposition NN – Keep and Spend Money for Education and Public Purposes
CCLP recommends: YES!
Proposition NN would allow Colorado to retain additional revenue above its current TABOR limit, initially directing that money toward K-12 education and other services benefiting children and families. Investing shared revenue in adequately funded schools, educators, and public services will do more to advance economic mobility than distributing the surplus through our current inequitable refund system.
Proposition 132 – Penalties for Fentanyl Crimes
CCLP recommends: NO
Proposition 132 would impose severe mandatory penalties for fentanyl offenses, increase incarceration, and eliminate some opportunities to clear possession convictions. Longer sentences have not been shown to reduce drug use or overdose deaths, but they do destabilize employment, housing, and families while disproportionately harming over-policed communities.
Proposition 133 – Penalties for Human Trafficking of a Minor
CCLP recommends: NO
Proposition 133 would make child sex trafficking a Class 1 felony punishable by life without parole, removing judicial discretion without being expected to produce additional convictions. Because the measure lacks adequate protections for trafficking survivors coerced into helping their abusers, it could impose the state’s harshest punishment on some of the very people the law should protect.
Proposition 134 – Male and Female Participation in School Sports
CCLP recommends: NO
Proposition 134 would exclude transgender students from school sports teams aligned with their gender identity. It would deepen discrimination against already-marginalized young people and deny them the academic, social, and mental-health benefits that participation in organized sports can provide.
Proposition 135 – Prohibit Certain Surgeries on Minors
CCLP recommends: NO
Proposition 135 would prohibit providers from performing certain gender-affirming surgeries for minors and prevent public programs and private insurance from covering them. It would replace individualized medical decision-making with a statewide ban and particularly burden lower-income families who cannot afford to travel elsewhere for medically necessary care.
Proposition 136 – Income Tax Rate Limit
CCLP recommends: NO
Proposition 136 would cap Colorado’s individual and corporate income-tax rates at 4.4 percent and directly conflict with Amendment 87’s graduated structure. It would protect the existing regressive system, potentially preventing both the tax increases on the wealthiest taxpayers and the tax cuts to low- and middle-income Coloradans that Amendment 87 would provide.
Proposition 137 – Direct Sporting Goods Sales Tax Revenue for Conservation
CCLP takes no position
Proposition 137 would dedicate existing sporting-goods sales-tax revenue to wildfire prevention, conservation, outdoor recreation, and outdoor-equity programs.