Colorado · November 3, 2026 general election
Statewide ballot measures: what your vote means
For each measure: the official ballot title, what a YES vote and a NO vote would do, and what would change, in plain language from official sources. SaveYourState does not take positions on ballot measures.
14 statewide measures are on the ballot. 3 have a “Heads up” note because a YES vote repeals, undoes, or removes something. Official sources checked October 22, 2026.
Amendment 81 · Citizen-initiated constitutional amendment (needs 55% to pass)
Law enforcement communication with federal immigration authorities
A YES vote means:
Law enforcement would have to try to determine whether a person charged with a violent crime, or charged with any crime after a prior felony conviction, is lawfully present, and notify federal immigration authorities within 72 hours if that cannot be determined.
A NO vote means:
Current law stays as it is: cooperation with federal immigration authorities is allowed in some criminal matters, but state and local involvement in civil immigration enforcement is limited.
Amendment 82 · Citizen-initiated constitutional amendment (needs 55% to pass)
Constitutional right to purchase and sell natural gas
A YES vote means:
The Colorado Constitution would include a right for consumers to buy, and for utilities and distributors to sell, natural gas for cooking or heating in homes and businesses.
A NO vote means:
Current laws and regulations on buying and selling natural gas stay as they are.
Amendment 83 · Citizen-initiated constitutional amendment (needs 55% to pass)
Constitutional right to hunt and fish
A YES vote means:
The Colorado Constitution would include a right to hunt and fish by traditional methods and would make hunting and fishing the preferred way to manage fish and wildlife populations, while the state could still regulate them.
A NO vote means:
Hunting and fishing continue as allowed under existing state and federal law.
Amendment 84 · Citizen-initiated constitutional amendment (needs 55% to pass)
Mail ballot voter identification
A YES vote means:
Mail ballots in federal and state elections would need the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number or Colorado driver’s license or ID number, in addition to a signature. Ballots with missing or wrong information would not count unless the voter fixes it.
A NO vote means:
The current signature-only verification of mail ballots continues.
Amendment 85 · Citizen-initiated constitutional amendment (needs 55% to pass)
Plain language ballot titles
A YES vote means:
All state and local ballot questions would have to be written in plain language at no more than an eighth-grade reading level, and no state law could require conflicting language for citizen initiatives.
A NO vote means:
Current law, which requires plain language in ballot titles without a specific reading-level standard, stays as it is.
Amendment 86 · Citizen-initiated constitutional amendment (needs 55% to pass)
Requirements for off-cycle congressional redistricting
A YES vote means:
Any change to Colorado’s congressional map outside the regular once-a-decade schedule would need at least three public meetings and approval by the Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission and the Colorado Supreme Court.
A NO vote means:
The current requirements for redrawing congressional districts every ten years continue.
Amendment 87 · Citizen-initiated constitutional amendment and statute (majority vote, tax measure)
Graduated income tax
Heads up: voting YES on this measure removes the constitutional requirement that Colorado have a single flat income tax rate. Voting NO keeps the flat-rate requirement.
A YES vote means:
Colorado’s single 4.4% income tax rate would be replaced, starting in 2027, with six brackets from 3.7% to 8.4%, lowering taxes on taxable income below about $500,000 and raising them above it. The added revenue would go to K-12 education, health care, and early childhood programs and would be exempt from the TABOR revenue limit.
A NO vote means:
The constitutional requirement for a single flat state income tax rate stays in place.
Proposition NN · Referred statute placed on the ballot by the legislature (majority vote)
Keep and spend money for education and other purposes
Heads up: voting YES on this measure lets the state keep money it would otherwise refund to taxpayers; TABOR refunds would be eliminated for 2026-27 and 2027-28, according to Legislative Council Staff.
A YES vote means:
The state could keep some or all of the revenue it would otherwise refund to taxpayers under TABOR, and spend it on K-12 education and programs that support children (and, after ten years, other purposes chosen by the legislature).
A NO vote means:
Current TABOR refunds continue, and funding for K-12 education and other state purposes stays at current levels.
Proposition 132 · Citizen-initiated statute (majority vote)
Increase penalties for fentanyl crimes
A YES vote means:
Possession of any amount of fentanyl would be a felony, distributing any amount would carry a mandatory minimum 8-year prison sentence, and some options to reduce penalties would be eliminated.
A NO vote means:
Minor fentanyl possession stays a misdemeanor, distribution penalties stay tiered by quantity, and options to reduce penalties remain.
Proposition 133 · Citizen-initiated statute (majority vote)
Penalties for human trafficking of a minor
A YES vote means:
The penalty for child sex trafficking would become life in prison without parole, and the crime would include knowingly paying for sexual activity with a minor.
A NO vote means:
Existing felony penalties for child sex trafficking stay: 8 to 48 years in prison plus mandatory parole.
Proposition 134 · Citizen-initiated statute (majority vote)
Male and female participation in school and collegiate sports
A YES vote means:
All K-12 and college school sports teams would have to be designated male, female, or coeducational based on biological sex, and schools and school districts would have to adopt policies on sex eligibility for sports; female athletes could play on a male team when no female team is available.
A NO vote means:
Schools, districts, and athletic associations could continue to set their own eligibility policies in line with current state and federal law.
Proposition 135 · Citizen-initiated statute (majority vote)
Prohibit surgery on minors in response to perception of sex or gender
A YES vote means:
Surgery on minors to alter biological sex characteristics in response to a minor’s perception of sex or gender would be prohibited, and government funds and health insurance could not pay for it.
A NO vote means:
Current Colorado law on access to these surgeries, including coverage by public and private health insurance, stays as it is.
Proposition 136 · Citizen-initiated statute (majority vote)
Income tax rate limit
A YES vote means:
The current state income tax rate of 4.4% would become the maximum rate allowed in state statute for individuals and corporations.
A NO vote means:
The rate stays at 4.4%, without a new limit in statute.
Proposition 137 · Citizen-initiated statute (majority vote)
Direct sporting goods sales tax revenue for conservation
Heads up: voting YES on this measure would reduce TABOR refunds in years when state revenue exceeds the limit, because this money would no longer be refunded.
A YES vote means:
Existing state sales tax revenue from sporting goods would be directed to conservation, wildfire mitigation, and outdoor recreation programs and exempted from the state revenue limit.
A NO vote means:
That revenue stays in the general state budget under the revenue limit, spent as the legislature decides each year or refunded to taxpayers when required.
All 14 statewide measures in the 2026 Blue Book. Front Range Passenger Rail District Ballot Issue 7A is a district measure and is not included. YES/NO explanations follow the Blue Book’s “What your vote means” statements. Argument summaries are short neutral summaries of the major arguments for and against printed in the Blue Book by the nonpartisan Legislative Council Staff.