Colorado voters will be asked this November whether the state constitution should guarantee that ballot questions are written so an eighth grader could understand them. Amendment 85 would require all state and local ballot questions to use plain language at no more than an eighth-grade reading level, and it would bar state statutes from requiring any conflicting language. It is one of 14 statewide measures Colorado voters face this year, a number that ties a record for the most statewide questions put before voters in at least 52 years.
What a Yes or No Vote Actually Does
The measure, formally known as Initiative 234, was citizen initiated, with backers gathering enough signatures to land it on the November 3, 2026 ballot, according to the Coloradoan. A yes vote would require ballot titles to be written in plain language at an eighth-grade reading level and would prohibit any law from interfering with that requirement, the paper reports. A no vote would simply keep current law in place, which already calls for plain language but does not specify a particular grade level.
Because Amendment 85 would alter the state constitution, it needs 55 percent voter approval to pass, a higher bar than a simple majority, according to Colorado Public Radio. The station notes the amendment would also prohibit a state statute from requiring language that conflicts with the plain-language and reading-level requirements, effectively writing the standard into the constitution so future legislatures cannot water it down.
A Law Already on the Books
Colorado lawmakers did not wait for voters to act. The state legislature passed House Bill 26-1320 during the 2026 session, which mandates accessible language on ballot titles for state-level citizen initiatives, per CPR's reporting. Under that law, Colorado's Title Board, which writes ballot titles for citizen initiatives, must already use plain language understandable by the widest possible audience and avoid legal, technical or specialized terminology when possible, according to the Colorado Blue Book. The bill text itself, hosted by the Colorado General Assembly, defines that accessible language as plain language understood by the widest possible audience.
That overlap sits at the center of the debate. Supporters of Amendment 85 argue a constitutional standard would help voters understand ballot measures and navigate complicated, technical information, while also providing additional guidance for writing ballot titles, according to the Denver Gazette's reporting on the measure, published through the Denver Gazette. Opponents counter that the measure is unnecessary since state law already provides guidance for plain-language ballot titles, the Gazette reports, and they warn it could invite more legal challenges to initiative ballot titles and even to laws concerning state and local programs and funding.
Money and Opposition Lining Up
Amendment 85 is backed by Advance Colorado, according to Colorado Newsline. On the other side, Vote Common Sense opposes the measure along with two other amendments on this year's ballot and has raised just under $500,000 so far, per Colorado Politics. Opponents also say the measure could prevent future laws that help voters understand the effects of ballot measures, according to the Gazette.
Thirteen of the 14 statewide questions on Colorado's 2026 ballot are citizen initiatives, while only one was referred to voters by the state Legislature, Colorado Newsline reports. Ballot titles are meant to fairly and accurately describe what a measure would do, and the fight over Amendment 85 is ultimately a fight over how plainly that description has to be written, and who gets to enforce it.
How Colorado's Ballots Read Today
Studies and a Ballotpedia analysis have pegged Colorado's ballot language at a reading level above 20th grade, CPR notes, a figure that helps explain why supporters see the eighth-grade standard as a meaningful shift rather than a formality. Colorado would not be the first state to try this. New York adopted a similar requirement in 2023, when Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law requiring state ballot measure questions to use clear language and not exceed an eighth-grade reading level, according to Ballotpedia. That New York law defines plain language as concise, easily comprehended wording that excludes semicolons, double negatives and more than one passive sentence per question.
Ballotpedia's review found New York's own ballot measures had fallen well short of that standard before the law passed. The two constitutional amendments on New York's 2023 ballot scored at 11th- and 12th-grade reading levels, and the state's 11 ballot measures since 2017 averaged a readability score comparable to an undergraduate education. North Dakota and Maine have taken their own runs at the problem too, with North Dakota requiring plain, clear and understandable summaries using everyday words, and Maine requiring questions to be written as simply as possible without a specific grade-level target. CPR reports that about two dozen states now have some form of ballot readability law, and such measures have generally drawn support across party lines.
