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Drilling limits won’t be on November ballot

Ryan Hoffman
rhoffman@citizentelegram.com

Barring a battle in the courts, Colorado voters will not decide this fall on greater restrictions for oil and gas development in the state.

Secretary of State Wayne Williams announced in a press release Monday that two citizen-initiated issues failed to gain enough signatures to send the questions to the ballot this November. While supporters for both question turned in more than the 98,492 signatures to the put an issue on the ballot, enough signatures were rejected to bring the total number below the necessary threshold.

A projection for the number of valid signatures for Issue No. 75, which would have granted local governments greater authority to regulate oil and gas development, was 79,634. Similarly, the projection for issue No. 78, which would have established a mandatory 2,500-foot setback zone for oil and gas development, also fell short at 77,109 signatures.



Supporters turned in 107,232 and 106,626 total signatures for the two questions.

However, in processing signatures for No. 78, the secretary of state’s office identified several potentially forged signature lines. Those have been turned over to Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman’s office for review.



Backers of the proposed ballot questions have 30 days to appeal the decision in Denver District Court, according to the press release.


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