partisan advantage.
Opponents countered that the proposed changes would effectively bypass the independent commission approved by voters. They argued that the initiatives combined several separate policy decisions into one package, including changing the timing of redistricting, altering the role of the commission, and adopting new congressional boundaries.
The Colorado Supreme Court agreed with that argument. The justices found that the measures contained multiple subjects and therefore did not meet constitutional requirements for citizen initiatives.
The Court’s Reasoning
The central issue before the court was not whether Democrats or Republicans should benefit from a new congressional map. Instead, the justices focused on the legal structure of the ballot proposals.
Colorado’s constitution requires citizen initiatives to address a single subject. This rule is intended to prevent voters from being forced to approve complicated packages containing unrelated or competing ideas.
The court concluded that the proposed measures went beyond a single policy question.
