Colorado initiative requiring that ballot measures be written in 8th grade language is too close to call – The Colorado Sun

Colorado initiative requiring that ballot measures be written in 8th grade language is too close to call  The Colorado Sun

Amendment 85 would require that state and local ballot questions be written in language that is no more complex than an 8th grade reading level. It was unclear Tuesday night whether voters had approved or rejected a ballot measure that would require all Colorado ballot questions to be written in language an eighth grader can understand. Amendment 85 was too close to call at 11:51 p.m., when 50.5% of tabulated voters were in favor of the measure and 49.5% were opposed. The initiative requires the support of 55% of voters to pass because it would add language to the state constitution. Amendment 85 would have required that state and local ballot questions be written in language that is no more complex than an eighth grade reading level.

It doesn’t specify how that should be determined, but there are existing tests that can be used to determine that. A law passed by the Colorado legislature this year already requires that statewide ballot measures be written in accessible language. But backers of Amendment 85 argued it would be better to have a defined standard in the state constitution that applies to all ballot questions and couldn’t be changed by lawmakers. The measure was proposed by Advance Colorado, a conservative political nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors. The same group was also behind