Colorado fracking measures won’t make the ballot

Groups supporting two anti-fracking measures in Colorado did not gather enough valid signatures to put them on November’s ballot. 

Colorado’s secretary of State, Wayne Williams (R), said Monday that the groups collected more than the 98,492 signature necessary but that several signatures were rejected during a random sample test. He has asked the state attorney general to investigate whether ballot measure supporters forged some of the signatures. 

{mosads}Opponents of hydraulic fracturing earlier this month said they had submitted the signatures necessary to put their initiatives before Colorado voters in November. 

They are backing two efforts: one an amendment to the state constitution that would allow local governments to regulate and ban fracking, and another to set up a 2,500-foot minimum buffer between fracking sites and sensitive locations like schools and hospitals. 

Both measures received more than 106,000 signatures, Williams’ office said. But several thousand of those signatures were rejected when the state verified a random sample of 5 percent of the totals; in the end, both measures came up around 20,000 valid signatures short of qualifying, Williams’ office said in a news release.   

The drilling industry opposed the efforts and had planned to spend millions of dollars defeating them if they had hit the ballot.

Fracking opponents now have 30 days to appeal the Secretary of State’s ruling to a state court. Ballot measure supporters said they are reviewing the ruling and considering whether to challenge it.

“As we review the ruling, we want to assure our volunteers and supporters that we are as committed as ever to giving the residents of Colorado a say this November on whether their communities can regulate fracking,” said Tricia Olson, the executive director of Yes for Health and Safety Over Fracking. 

“Today’s announcement is not the final action on this issue as countless residents are now committed to protecting their children’s schools, parks, and homes.”

Fights over fracking ballot measures are not new in Colorado. The state almost put a measure restricting the industry on its ballot in 2014 before Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) cut a deal to instead establish a fracking safety task force in the state. 

Hickenlooper predicted last week that fracking opponents wouldn’t have the necessary number of valid signatures to make this year’s ballot.

—This post was updated at 12:57 p.m.