BACKGROUND
Under current statutory law, the Title Board sets a ballot title for each initiative petition. The title must be brief, must not conflict with another title in the same election, must be answerable yes or no, and must unambiguously state what would be added, amended, or repealed.
In May 2026, the Governor signed HB26-1320, which takes steps toward the goals of this measure. It requires the Title Board to write ballot titles using “accessible language” — plain language understood by the widest possible audience — and it modified the provisions governing tax increases or decreases so that required ballot language need only be substantially similar and may appear anywhere in the ballot title, making those requirements more flexible.
Amendment 85 would place plain-language and reading-level requirements in the Colorado Constitution rather than in statute. Because it is a constitutional amendment, its requirements could not be changed by the legislature and would take precedence over conflicting statutes.