Colorado voters comb through a glut of ballot questions during election season. How did we get here?

Colorado voters have a right that many Americans don’t. Colorado, and 25 other states, allow residents to collect signatures and put questions on the ballot, rather than relying solely on lawmakers to decide whether an initiative goes before voters. And Colorado has been putting that tool to use. Only Oregon and California use the referendum process more. But in recent years, some unusual proposals have made their way onto ballots – including one that will ask voters this fall to guarantee your constitutional right to use natural gas for cooking and heating. Some political observers question whether Colorado's initiative process is out of hand – especially when the November ballot might contain more than a dozen items referred by voters. Reporter Colleen Slevin recently took a deep dive into the past and present of Colorado’s citizen initiative process for The Colorado Sun. And as state election workers comb through scores of collected signatures to decide what will make it onto the ballot, she joined Erin O’Toole to talk about it. * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks! Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole Executive Producer: Brad Turner Theme music by Robbie Reverb Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.