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Our 2026 ballot measure positions.

Help us make 2026 our strongest campaign yet.

In 2026, our candidate campaign and ballot measure campaigns will work to elect progressive candidates, pass progressive measures, and defeat a number of dangerous right-wing measures on the statewide ballot. We need to raise about $3,000 more to make this happen. Will you chip in to our candidate campaign today?

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Here is our cheat-sheet for the most important issues on your Boulder ballot. Read below for a full list of our recommendations on all 22 issues. We'll have more explanation and descriptions posted to our online voter guide in the coming weeks.


Boulder Progressives 2026 Ballot Measure Positions

Ballot Measure Recommendations

Our positions on the statewide, county, and city measures on your 2026 ballot.

Ballot Measures

Colorado Statewide Ballot Measures

Vote No

State of Colorado Amendment 81: Law Enforcement Communication with Federal Immigration Authorities

Would turn local police into an arm of federal immigration enforcement, requiring them to report people to federal authorities based on a mere charge, before anyone is convicted of anything. This erodes trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement and makes everyone less safe.

Vote No

State of Colorado Amendment 82: Constitutional Right to Purchase and Sell Natural Gas

Would lock a fossil fuel into Colorado's constitution, making it far harder for the state and local communities to transition to cleaner, more affordable energy and undermining hard-won progress on climate action.

Vote No

State of Colorado Amendment 83: Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish

Would enshrine hunting and fishing as the constitutionally preferred method of wildlife management, tying the hands of professional wildlife biologists and making it harder to adapt management practices to protect vulnerable and endangered species in the future.

Vote No

State of Colorado Amendment 84: Mail Ballot Voter Identification

Would pile a new identification requirement onto mail voting, Colorado's most popular and secure way to cast a ballot, creating fresh opportunities for eligible ballots to be flagged, delayed, or rejected over simple paperwork mismatches.

Vote No

State of Colorado Amendment 85: Plain Language Ballot Titles

Would lock rigid, one-size-fits-all language rules into the constitution for something better left to ordinary statute, limiting the legislature's future ability to write clear, accurate ballot titles without a constitutional fix every time.

Vote No

State of Colorado Amendment 86: Requirements for Off-Cycle Congressional Redistricting

Would create a new constitutional pathway for off-cycle congressional redistricting where none exists today, opening the door to political map-drawing outside the regular process, even with guardrails attached.

Vote Yes

State of Colorado Amendment 87: Graduated Income Tax

Would replace Colorado's flat income tax with a fairer, graduated structure, so those with greater means contribute a greater share, generating vital new funding for education, health care, and early-childhood programs.

Vote Yes

State of Colorado Proposition NN: Keep and Spend Money for Education and Other Purposes

Would let the state keep and invest revenue that would otherwise go out as small individual TABOR refund checks, directing real, meaningful new dollars into Colorado's K-12 classrooms instead.

Vote No

State of Colorado Proposition 132: Increase Penalties for Fentanyl Crimes

Would lean on harsher mandatory prison sentences rather than the treatment and public-health investments that are proven more effective at actually reducing overdose deaths and addiction.

Vote No

State of Colorado Proposition 133: Penalties for Human Trafficking of a Minor

Would mandate an extreme, one-size-fits-all life-without-parole sentence, stripping judges of the ability to weigh the specific facts of each case.

Vote No

State of Colorado Proposition 134: Male and Female Participation in School and Collegiate Sports

Would write discrimination against transgender student-athletes into state law, excluding kids from school sports and the community those teams provide.

Vote No

State of Colorado Proposition 135: Prohibit Surgery on Minors in Response to Perception of Sex or Gender

Would insert politicians into private medical decisions between families and their doctors, restricting access to care that major medical associations recognize as safe and appropriate for some transgender youth.

Vote No

State of Colorado Proposition 136: Income Tax Rate Limit

Would permanently lock in a flat tax rate regardless of future needs, undercutting funding for schools, health care, and other priorities, and stands in direct conflict with the fairer graduated-rate approach in Amendment 87.

Vote No

State of Colorado Proposition 137: Direct Sporting Goods Sales Tax Revenue for Conservation

Would permanently wall off this sales-tax revenue for a single narrow purpose regardless of the state's other pressing needs, locking in reduced budget flexibility for years to come.

Ballot Measures

Regional Ballot Measure

Vote Yes

Issue 7A: Front Range Passenger Rail District

Would fund a modern passenger rail connection along the Front Range, cutting traffic congestion and emissions and finally giving Coloradans a real alternative to I-25.

Ballot Measures

Boulder County Ballot Measures

Boulder County Commission Expansion — Two Ballot Questions

Boulder Progressives believes there are strong arguments both for and against expanding the Boulder County Board of Commissioners and is not recommending a vote for or against the expansion question. On the separate question concerning how an expanded commission would be structured, Boulder Progressives supports a model consisting of two at-large commissioners and three commissioners elected from districts.

No Position

Question 1 — Expansion

Should Boulder County expand the Board of County Commissioners from three members to five?

B
Option B

Question 2 — Election Structure (Conditional)

If voters approve expansion, which structure should Boulder County use: (a) five commissioners elected by voters in their respective districts, or (b) three district-elected commissioners plus two commissioners elected countywide?

Vote Yes

Boulder County 1A: Early Childhood Care and Education Mill Levy Increase

For about $115 a year on a typical Boulder County home, this measure would make child care more affordable for local families, provide additional compensation opportunities for early childhood educators, and open up badly needed capacity to shrink long waitlists.

Ballot Measures

City of Boulder Ballot Measures

Vote Yes

City of Boulder Issue 2J: Vacancy Excise Tax

Would encourage owners of long-vacant homes to bring them back into use as actual housing for Boulder residents, while generating an estimated $6 million a year to support city services.

Vote Yes

City of Boulder Issue 2K: Recreation and Safety Bond ("Building Boulder Together")

Would finally modernize the aging, essential public infrastructure Boulder residents rely on every day, our recreation centers, fire stations, and 911 dispatch, through a responsible, voter-approved investment.

Vote Yes

City of Boulder Issue 2L: Charter Change for Collective Bargaining for Firefighters

Would guarantee Boulder's firefighters a real voice in decisions about their own safety, wages, and working conditions, bringing the city in line with peer fire departments across Colorado.

Vote Yes

City of Boulder Issue 2M: Debt Limit Increase

Would modernize an outdated charter formula so Boulder's borrowing capacity is calculated the same way most other Colorado cities and the state already do, giving the city practical room to invest in the infrastructure residents need.