News Release

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Setback measure for oil and gas makes the ballot

DENVER, Aug. 29, 2018 -- Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams announced today that a setback measure for oil and gas development made the ballot.

The measure would mandate that new oil and gas development, including fracking, be a minimum distance of 2,500 feet from occupied buildings and other areas designated as "vulnerable."

Backers of Initiative 97 submitted signatures on Aug. 6 for the measure. A 5-percent random sample of the submitted signatures projected the number of valid signatures to be greater than 110 percent of the total number of signatures required for placement on the ballot.

Petition verification summary for No. 97:

Total number of qualified signatures submitted

172,834

5% of qualified signatures submitted (random sample)

8,642

Total number of entries accepted (valid) from the random sample

6,160

Total number of entries rejected (invalid) from the random sample

2,482

Number of projected valid signatures from the random sample

123,195

Total number of signatures required for placement on the ballot

98,492

Projected percentage of required valid signatures

125.08%

One other initiative is still under review:

Initiative 173, campaign contributions.

The results of the review must be announced by Sept. 5.

Five other citizen-led initiatives have made the Nov. 6 ballot. A proposed constitutional amendment would require that property owners be compensated for any reduction in property value caused by state laws or regulations. Another measure would restrict the charges on payday loans. Two involve transportation project funding: one would authorize bonds and one would increase sales tax. The other is a proposed constitutional amendment that boosts taxes to raise money for education.

To examine the measures, go to the Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results link on the Secretary of State web page and the first set of measures marked "signature line review." When you click on each measure, there will be a link marked "hearing result." Click on that link and the ballot titles will say whether it is a proposed change to the Colorado Constitution or state statute.

Also on the ballot are six measures referred by the Colorado General Assembly:

Amendment V, age requirement for legislators,

Amendment W, election ballot format for judicial retention elections,

Amendment X, industrial hemp definition,

Amendment Y, congressional redistricting,

Amendment Z, legislative redistricting, and

Amendment A, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude.