By admin 
Colorado voters will decide in November whether to require that people provide partial Social Security or driver’s license numbers, in addition to their signature, when returning mail ballots in order to have their vote counted.
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Here’s what Amendment 84 would do, who is behind it and who is fighting the proposal.
What would Amendment 84 do?
Amendment 84 would change the state constitution to require that voters write the last four digits of their Social Security number, Colorado driver’s license or identification card, on the outside of the envelopes they use to return their mail ballots.
If voters don’t include the numbers, or if the numbers don’t match identification information on file, they would be notified and asked to confirm that the ballot is theirs. If they fail to provide verification within eight days of an election, their ballot wouldn’t be counted.
Currently, voters only need to sign the outside of their ballot envelope to verify their identity. (Voters would still have to sign their ballot envelopes, in addition to providing their identifying numbers, if Amendment 84 passes.)
Amendment 84 requires the approval of 55% of voters to pass because it adds language to the constitution.
A similar question is on California’s ballot this year.
Amendment 84 would require additional state and local government spending
Nonpartisan state legislative analysts estimate that state and local governments would have to spend up to a combined $2.7 million in the first year Amendment 84 is in effect, should it pass, and up to $1.2 million annually after that to comply with the measure.
Checking identification numbers provided by voters would increase required staffing hours and overtime spending during elections, the analysts say.
The increased cost would also go toward notifying voters of any problems with their identification numbers and to modify election systems, change ballot materials and conduct voter outreach. Most of the new spending would fall to counties but they could be reimbursed by the state for about 45% of their spending, according to the analysts.
Who supports Amendment 84 and why?
The proposed amendment was filed by former Colorado deputy secretary of state Suzanne Taheri, a lawyer at West Group, a Colorado law firm that works for conservative candidates and causes, and Chuck Broerman, a Republican and former top elections official in El Paso County.
“Colorado’s elections work well — this proposal makes them stronger, using a very common form of identification,” Broerman said.
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It’s not clear who is pushing for the measure’s passage. A committee organized to pass the initiative, the Colorado Voter Trust Initiative, had raised $4.2 million through mid September from three groups that use shipping stores as their addresses, two of them in the Washington, D.C., area and one in Colorado Springs.
The one with a Colorado Springs address, Coalition for American Prosperity and Growth, has the same name as a nonprofit registered in Ohio that doesn’t reveal its donors. It was known as the Coalition for Ohio Prosperity and Growth until last year and also previously used a D.C.-area shipping business as its address.
According to analysis by nonpartisan legislative staff, the argument in favor of Amendment 84 is that it would strengthen election security. Voters who don’t have the required government-issued identification can vote in person and provide other forms of identification, they said.
Who opposes Amendment 84 and why?
A group called Defend Our Ballots opposes Amendment 84 but hasn’t reported raising any money as of mid-September.
Vote Common Sense, a coalition of liberal groups, including environmental, labor and abortion rights organizations, that are opposing a range of ballot proposals, including Amendment 84, had raised about $495,000 through mid-September.
Opponents include the League of Women Voters of Colorado, Common Cause Colorado and the advocacy arm of Courageous Colorado, which describes itself as a “cross-partisan movement” aimed at improving elections and democracy.
Opponents of Amendment 84 say Colorado’s current signature verification system is effective and secure and argue that Amendment 84 could expose voters to identity theft. They also say it could slow down ballot counting and undermine confidence in mail voting, which was used by 92% of Colorado voters in 2024.
“This measure isn’t a Colorado idea — it’s a page out of a national playbook to make voting harder, wrapped in the language of security. Colorado voters can see through it,” said Scott Martinez, Denver’s former city attorney and an election lawyer working with Defend Our Ballots.
How Amendment 84 appears on the ballot?
Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution requiring a voter to sign and include the last four digits of their Social Security number or their Colorado driver’s license or identification card number on the outside of their mail ballot for any federal or state election, and, in connection therewith, allowing the voter to correct missing or incorrect information, including with alternative forms of identification; and prohibiting a county clerk and recorder from counting the mail ballot unless the problem is fixed?
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Read the nonpartisan state ballot guide analysis of the measure .