Plain language
The ballot question would have to be written so voters can understand it without specialized legal wording.
Guided text
Read the question. Follow the clauses.
The official language stays intact. The notes alongside it explain what each clause says and link back to the public record.
Our explanation, not official ballot language
The official question
Official ballot languageWhat voters will see
Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution concerning ballot question language, and, in connection therewith, requiring all state and local ballot questions
to be written in plain language and at no more than an 8th grade reading level
and prohibiting a state statute from requiring language that conflicts with these requirements in ballot questions for citizen-initiated measures?
In plain terms
The standard is simple.
Eighth-grade reading level
The question would also have to meet a reading-level limit of no more than eighth grade.
Read the boundary
What the measure does not do.
A limit on conflicting statutory language
The conflict rule applies to ballot questions for citizen-initiated measures; it does not rewrite the official question itself.