Tax measure petitions need line-by-line review

Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced Friday that his office needs to do a line-by-line review the petitions submitted for the K-12 tax increase ballot measure.

The group Colorado Commits to Kids submitted 165,706 signatures on Aug. 5. Some 86,105 valid signatures are required to put the proposed on the $950 million tax increase on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The Department of State samples petition signatures to determine if there’s a probability supporters have gathered a sufficient number.

The department sampled 5 percent of the submitted signatures – 8,286 – and found 4,645 were valid and 3,641 were not. From that sample the department projected 92,892 valid signatures, 107.9 percent of the required number.

According to the department, state law “requires the verification of each signature filed if the random sample shows the number of valid signatures falls between 90 percent and 110 percent of the 86,105 signatures needed.”

So line-by-line verification is needed because the projected number of tax-plan signatures didn’t exceed the 110 percent threshold.

The signatures have to be verified by Sept. 4. Department spokesman Rich Coolidge said staff will have to review all 165,706 signatures.

Andrew Freedman, campaign director of Colorado Commits, said, “We have turned in nearly double the required number of signatures, and the random sample suggests we have collected more than enough to qualify for the ballot. We look forward to that announcement before Sept. 5.”

Read full announcement from the department.