Coloradans voted on over a dozen ballot questions in the 2026 election, making consequential decisions on statewide tax policy, voting rights, immigration and other issues.
This year’s ballot featured 14 statewide questions, the most Colorado voters have faced in over a century, according to Westword.
The results are still unofficial but the likely winner was clear in most of the races as of Friday morning, with the Associated Press estimating 95% of votes have been tallied.
Taxes and spending
The election seems likely to bring major changes to the state’s tax and spending policies.
Voters approved Proposition NN, which will increase education spending by taking away taxpayer refunds.
Additionally, supporters claimed victory for Amendment 87, which would raise billions of dollars in new funding for schools and healthcare by cutting most people’s income taxes while raising them on the highest-earning people and companies.
Voters rejected a competing proposal, Proposition 136, that would have locked in Colorado’s current flat-rate income tax system.
Supporters also claimed victory for another tax question, Proposition 137, which would direct sports equipment taxes toward conservation, wildfire mitigation and outdoor recreation.
The battles over those proposals were among the most expensive of any of the ballot questions, with supporters and opponents spending millions of dollars to influence voters.
Voting and elections
Coloradans also faced several questions about the voting process itself, but largely chose to leave the current system intact.
The state’s voters – more than 90% of whom vote by mail – shot down Amendment 84, a proposal to change the state constitution to add new ID requirements for mail-in voting, despite “dark money” groups spending close to $6 million to back the measure.
Coloradans also voted down Amendment 86, another dark money-backed measure which would have added state constitutional barriers to redrawing congressional election maps.
A slim majority of voters backed Amendment 85, which would require ballot questions to be written at no higher than an eighth-grade reading level. But the measure still seems unlikely to reach the threshold of 55% voter approval that it needs to pass because it proposes adding language to the state constitution.
Law and order
The election also saw Coloradans back tougher penalties for some crimes while showing skepticism of federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Voters backed harsher punishments for small-time fentanyl crimes with Proposition 132, even though it could cost millions of dollars to implement and is unlikely to help Colorado reverse increasing opioid overdose deaths. Governor-elect Phil Weiser questioned the measure after his victory and said he would rather bolster addiction treatment than send more people to jail.
Voters also supported Proposition 133, which would require life sentences for people convicted of child sex trafficking. Victim advocates opposed this measure, saying it could have unintended consequences, and they have said they’ll lobby lawmakers to pass new laws to protect victims.
At the same time, voters rejected Amendment 81, which would have changed the state constitution to require local law enforcement to report certain criminal suspects to federal immigration authorities. Immigration was one of the top issues for voters in this election, so the fact that this measure failed is another clear sign that Coloradans don’t trust ICE.
Conservative values
There were mixed results for other ballot questions backed by conservative interests.
Voters rejected Amendment 82, which would have added a right to buy and sell natural gas to the state constitution, and Amendment 83, which would have established a state constitutional right to hunt and fish.
But two anti-trans measures look likely to pass.
One of those, Proposition 134, would ban trans kids from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. Three other states passed similar measures in this election and half the states already had them in place before that.
The other anti-trans measure, Proposition 135, would ban doctors from performing surgeries “altering the biological sex characteristics” of children. Trans rights advocates and top medical groups opposed the measure, but it’s not yet clear how they’ll respond to its likely passage.
Here’s a round-up video I did yesterday before new data clarified some of the results mentioned above.
NEED TO KNOW
🛢️ Colorado is struggling to keep up with a growing number of so-called “orphan” oil and gas wells abandoned by their operators. The number of orphan wells is expanding faster than the state’s ability to clean up the sites, and funding challenges are on the horizon. Federal funding for orphan well clean-up is set to run out in 2030 and fees from a shrinking pool of active wells may not cover the growing workload. (Colorado Sun / Mark Jaffe)
🚔 Resource constraints are hindering Colorado law enforcement investigations. The Colorado State Patrol, which investigates highway crashes, acknowledged staff shortages have caused lengthy delays in some probes. (CBS Colorado / Karen Morfitt) A crime lab that serves several metro Denver counties is facing new funding concerns while already dealing with a substantial backlog. (CBS Colorado / Tori Mason)
⛑️ Colorado is pausing a plan to overhaul search-and-rescue management while it considers a county sheriff’s proposal to lead statewide operations. The original plan would have put Colorado Parks and Wildlife in charge of search and rescue statewide, replacing a system in which county sheriffs coordinate local operations with volunteers. (Colorado Sun / Jason Blevins)
COMING UP
🤔 Now that the election is over, I’ll be looking for new topics to report on. I’ve got a long list of my own story ideas, but I really want to hear from you about what you’re most interested in. Shoot me a message at theblanketnews@gmail.com or DM me on any of the apps if you have suggestions.