"...It is essential that voters can understand the questions placed before them. Colorado, to some degree, has recognized this principle by requiring ballot questions to use “clear,” and “concise,” language. However, these terms lack a precise, measurable standard, leaving room for highly complex language to reach voters.

A specific reading-level requirement (or other measurable standard) would give Colorado an objective benchmark for determining whether ballot language meets a reasonable standard of readability. Though such a requirement would not guarantee that every voter understands every policy or the idea behind it – as that requires additional information from trusted sources, debates, and personal research – a measurable standard would establish a reasonable minimum for the language voters encounter directly on the ballot. Voters should not need specialized legal or academic training to understand the basic question before them. By replacing subjective standards with a clear benchmark, any state can promote a more informed electorate and ensure that voters – not special interest groups or overly technical language – are ultimately the decision-makers.” - Advance Colorado

“Colorado already enacted a plain-language requirement for ballot titles this year (passed with 72% of the vote in 2022), allowing legally required voter disclosures to be rewritten in clear, accessible language. Initiative 234 unnecessarily puts an undefined eighth-grade reading standard into the Constitution and goes much further by prohibiting statutes from mandating language in initiative ballot titles. This means that voters would see less information about how a tax measure hits their own wallet and state/local budgets. We recommend opposing it because we believe voters should have more information about what's on their ballot, not less.” - Eagle County Democrats