DENVER Critics of big money in politics turned in 177,000 signatures Monday to the secretary of state, enough to all but guarantee that they will get their initiative on Colorados fall ballot.
Also Monday, supporters of the anti-abortion Personhood initiative turned in 112,000 signatures in an attempt to get their measure on the ballot for the third time.
Campaign finance reform advocates began gathering signatures a month ago and had one of the most successful petition campaigns ever in Colorado.
Their Initiative 82 would tell the states U.S. senators and representatives to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow Congress and the states to limit campaign contributions and spending. The U.S. Supreme Court in the 2010 Citizens United case allowed unlimited political spending by corporations and individuals.
The ruling led to the creation of Super PACs, which so far this year have raised $230 million nationwide. More than half that total came from just 47 million-dollar donors, according to a report by the CoPIRG Foundation, which backs Initiative 82.
The current law has transferred power to the rich and to large corporations, said Ken Gordon, founder of Clean Slate Now who also supports the initiative.
Its necessary for the people to stand up and take that power back, Gordon said. Power of the people is the only counterbalance to the power of money.
The Citizens United ruling overturned many campaign finance limits championed by groups like Colorado Common Cause and other supporters of Initiative 82. Activists nationwide are setting their sights on the only way to trump the Supreme Court ruling: an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Montana will have a similar ballot measure, and groups in other states are pressuring their state legislatures to act, said Elena Nunez, executive director of Colorado Common Cause.
Campaigns need 86,105 signatures of Colorado voters to place an initiative on the ballot. In practice, campaigns usually turn in tens of thousands more, in case the secretary of state invalidates some signatures.
Supporters of an anti-abortion initiative had not announced their numbers by early afternoon.
This year is the third time around for the Personhood campaign, which seeks an amendment to the state constitution to declare that embryos from the moment of conception have the same legal rights as any person. The amendment could lead to bans on abortion, as well as common forms of birth control and in-vitro fertilization.
Colorado voters have rejected the amendment twice before on wide margins.
Monday was the deadline for all campaigns to turn in signatures. If both the campaign finance and Personhood initiatives make the ballot, they will join a citizen initiative to legalize marijuana and a Legislature-approved measure to change the state personnel system.
joeh@cortezjournal.com