Initiative 43 (Colorado)

Colorado Initiative 43 is a proposed amendment to the Colorado Constitution. It would change Section 31, which currently bans same-sex marriage, to instead recognize same-sex marriage and treat such marriages identically to opposite-sex marriages. The approved ballot question is:


 * Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution declaring that a union of a same-sex couple or a union of an opposite-sex couple shall be valid and recognized as a marriage and shall be treated equally in all respects under Colorado law?

The initiative was filed with the Legislative Council on June 26, 2013. On July 10, the Legislative Council held a review, and the proponents filed an amended version the following day with the Secretary of State's office. The Ballot Title Board discussed the initiative at their regularly-scheduled meeting on August 7 in order to determine the ballot language.

There was a 7-day waiting period to allow the proponents or a member of the public to petition for a rehearing before the Ballot Title Board. If such a motion had been filed by August 14, then the rehearing would have taken place at the board's regularly-scheduled meeting on August 21. Since no motion was filed, the title became final on August 15, 2013.

The proponents filed a proposed petition format with the Secretary of State's office on Wednesday, August 21. The Secretary of State's office approved the format in August 23. The proponents now have until February 17, 2014, to gather 86,105 valid Colorado voter signatures. There is no distribution requirement, so these signatures may come from any county.

Once the signatures are filed, the Secretary of State's office will have 30 days to validate whether or not a sufficient number of signatures have been filed. (If they fail to finish this validation within the 30 days, the petitions will be considered sufficient.) If there are insufficient valid signatures, the proponents will have an additional 15 days to cure the defect, and upon filing the additional signatures, the Secretary of State's office will have 10 further days to validate those.

If a sufficient number of signatures are filed, the proposed initiative will be placed on the November, 2014 ballot.

Documents
 * 2013-06-26: Citizen initiative proposal
 * 2013-07-03: Memorandum from the Legislative Council
 * 2013-07-11: Filings with the Secretary of State's office:
 * Original version
 * Amendments made
 * Final version
 * 2013-08-07: Ballot Title Board transcript
 * Results