Colorado Concern sues Polis over order easing signature-gathering requirements for ballot measures

A coalition of Colorado business leaders sued Gov. Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Monday over an executive order to suspend some requirements on collecting signatures for proposed ballot measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court by Colorado Concern and board member Dan Ritchie, alleges the governor does not have the authority to change how signatures are collected for special ballot measures because the rules are set by the constitution and state law. Those rules require in-person and notarized signatures.

“The Governor has led our state admirably through these dark and difficult days, and so many of us have stood with him throughout,” Ritchie said in a statement. “But Governor Polis’ Friday evening executive order, which would remove vital safeguards that go to the very heart of the integrity in the initiative process, reaches beyond the power given to the Governor by the people, and has to be challenged.”

Ritchie is a University of Denver chancellor emeritus and backer of Proposition CC — the failed 2019 ballot measure that would have allowed the state keep any tax revenues above the spending cap.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2020/05/18/colorado-businesses-sue-polis-ballot-changes-coronavirus/