The gentleman in this public domain image is carrying petitions with 100,000 signatures. Petitions don’t require that many signatures in Boulder, but you still have to do things by the book, and that’s part of the reason for Question 2B.
City of Boulder Ballot Question 2B, at its simplest, would amend five sections of the Boulder City Charter, and the ballot measure language below might be the shortest way to describe what 2B would do. The measure would pass with a simple majority, and since it amends the Charter it would require another vote of the people to amend language or repeal if 2B passes.
What you’ll see on the ballot:
Shall Sections 27, 37, 39, 46, and 57 of the city Charter be amended
pursuant to Ordinance 8587 to:• remove the requirement that signers to petitions appear personally before the city clerk;
• clarify that state law governs the process for charter amendments;
• change the timing provisions of filing a petition to 160 days before an election instead of 150 days;
• change the number of days that the city clerk has to approve a petition to 15 days from 10 days; and
• change the number of days that the city clerk has to verify petition signatures from 10 to 15?
People definitely do not need to read the entire City Charter to deal with 2B, but they can by visiting https://library.municode.com/co/boulder/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=THCHBOCO
More information about each Charter section that 2B would amend
Section 27: Nominating petitions
Currently, candidates for City Council or Mayor of Boulder have to gather at least 25 valid petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. Very often, candidates hold “signing parties” at the Boulder Municipal Building so the City Clerk can witness the signings, which is currently required in the City Charter – but 2B would remove this requirement.
Question 2B would strike one clause from current language – a Clerk’s affirmation saying that the petition signers “personally appeared before me on the day and date set opposite such person’s name.” Even if 2B passes, the Clerk would still be required to check to make sure the person signing the petition is a registered City of Boulder voter.
For many petition drives both in and out of Boulder, petition circulators can carry petitions around communities to gather signatures. Also, online petition platforms are allowed in Boulder and in other parts of the country. Registered voters in Colorado have signatures on file with election officials so they can check signatures on petitions against what they have on file. Passing 2B would simply allow Council or Mayoral candidate committees to gather signatures without needing to go to the Municipal Building.
Section 37: Charter Amendments and State Law
Passing 2B would add a new sentence to the end of Section 37 – “The people shall have the power at their option to propose charter amendments in accordance with state law.” 2B would also strike two words, “charter amendments,” from the first sentence of Section 37, which would no longer be necessary since charter amendments would be mentioned in the last sentence of the section.
Section 37 in its current form does not mention state law, but charter amendment petition signature requirements are in fact covered under Colorado Revised Statutes 31-2 -210 (1)(a)(III) and (IV). A 2022 City of Boulder ballot measure changed municipal elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, in turn changing “regular” elections to even-numbered years and “special” elections to odd-numbered years. Petition signature requirements for Charter amendments under state law are 5% of registered electors in regular elections, and 10% in special elections.
Having the phrase “in accordance with state law” in Section 37 could help minimize the possibility of confusion (or bad advice) over petition signature requirements for future Charter amendment ballot measure proposals. Perhaps this part of 2B wasn’t totally necessary because local governments ought to follow state law anyway, but as the ballot title says, this section would “clarify” that state law governs petition signature requirements for Charter amendments.
Section 39: Filing of Petition
There’s only one proposed change in this section. Passing 2B would change the current number 150 to 160 in this sentence to read: “By the last business day on or before 160 calendar days before the November election, the committee of petitioners shall submit its petition.”
For citizen initiatives, committees must gather sufficient numbers of petition signatures. Passing 2B would mean committees have to submit their petition with signatures at least 10 days earlier in the election cycle than they do now. To use this year’s election as an example, “election day” is November 7, and 160 days before November 7 is about June 1.
Section 46: Certification of petition
Section 46 of the Charter is in an article of the Charter called “The Referendum,” so Section 46 pertains to referendum petitions. In City of Boulder lingo, citizens may file a referendum to attempt overturning ordinances passed by City Council, like a group did in 2022 to attempt repealing the CU-South annexation agreement.
Passing 2B would make only one change in Section 46 – giving the City Clerk 15 days instead of 10 days to determine whether the referendum committee turned in enough valid petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. The start of Section 46 would read as below if 2B passes:
“Within fifteen days after the filing of the petition the city clerk shall ascertain whether or not the petition is signed by registered electors of the city of at least ten percent of the average number of voters in the previous two municipal candidate elections…”
Section 57: Petition may be amended or new petition made
Section 57 of the Charter is in an article of the Charter called “The Recall,” so Section 57 pertains to recall elections. Committees hoping to recall a Boulder elected official again must collect enough valid petition signatures to qualify for the ballot.
If 2B passes, again the City Clerk would have 15 instead of ten days to determine that the committee gathered enough valid petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. The beginning of Section 57 would read as below if 2B passes:
“Within fifteen days from the filing of said petition the city clerk shall ascertain by examination thereof and of the registration books and election returns whether the petition is signed by the required number of registered electors…”
Richard’s Take
I will probably vote for Issue 2B, or at least I don’t see any reason to vote against it. The changes seem simple and reasonable, primarily making minor changes in administrative dates and timelines. The proposal for Section 27 to allow petition signatures that aren’t witnessed by the City Clerk might arguably be the most significant proposed change, but petition committees have gathered signatures off-site for other types of candidates in Colorado for as long as I can remember, and with signature verification this doesn’t trouble me.
One point – it is legitimate for people to vote against a multi-item measure like 2B if they don’t agree with even one of the sections. All of the 2B changes would go into the City Charter if 2B passes, and it would take another vote of the people to fix any change that the voters made. I will always say to be careful and fully evaluate ballot measures, but I feel like I have read with caution and don’t see problems with this one.
