Raise the Bar Passing in El Paso County

Amendment 71, called Raise the Bar, which will make it much more difficult to amend the state constitution, is passing in El Paso County, with strong support from Republicans. The survey conducted for the Colorado Springs Gazette (600 sample, Oct. 18) shows 65 percent of voters approved Amendment 71, with 71 percent of Republicans, but only 51 percent of Democrats in support.

When joined with the 53 percent overall support in the Denver metro area (late September poll), Raise the Bar appears to have sufficient support to pass statewide.

Dan Njegomir of The Gazette writes:

By a 3-to-1 margin, those surveyed said they would vote for a constitutional amendment making it harder to amend the state constitution. The campaign for Amendment 71, which 65 percent of respondents said they support, has strong political and financial backing from Colorado's most prominent business groups as well as leading luminaries in the state Republican Party.

"It is the Republican establishment that is helping pass this," Ciruli said, "and Democrats are more ambivalent." (10-25-16)