Proposed Initiative #120 (“Prohibition on Late-Term Abortion”) Does Not Qualify For 2020 Ballot

Denver, April 3, 2020 – The Elections Division of the Colorado Secretary of State’s office announced today that Proposed Initiative 120 (“Prohibition on Late-Term Abortion”) did not obtain the sufficient number of signatures needed to qualify for the 2020 General Election ballot.

The “Prohibition on Late-Term Abortion” Initiative submitted 137,624 petition signatures, needing 124,632 valid signatures to qualify for inclusion on the 2020 ballot.  After a 5% random sample of qualified signatures, the Elections Division determined the projected verification level to be 97.51%, falling within 90-110% of the number required and thereby necessitating line-by-line signature verification.  After examining and reviewing each signature, the Secretary of State’s Office determined that 114,647 signatures were valid, falling short of the 124,632 valid signature threshold.  These requirements are outlined by Article V, Section 1 (3) of the Colorado constitution. 

As outlined in the law, the proponents are afforded an opportunity to cure the insufficiency.  By order of a district court, the proponents secured a suspension of the period in which they may acquire the sufficient number of valid signatures.  The cure period will now begin on April 12 and end at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 27

Line-By-Line Verification Summary:

Total number of qualified signature lines:  137,624

Total number of entries accepted (valid):  114,647

Total number of entries rejected (invalid):  22,977

Total number of valid signatures required for placement on ballot: 124,632

The full Statement of Insufficiency is available here.  The text of the “Prohibition on Late-Term Abortion” Initiative is available here.      

A record of all accepted and rejected signatures, including reasons for each rejection is on file with the Secretary of State.

The initiatives approved for the 2020 ballot at this time are Senate Bill 19-042 National Popular Vote Referendum, Initiative 76 (“Citizen Qualification of Electors”), and Initiative 107 (“Restoration of Gray Wolves”).