While we have focused on local issues – those closest to us – voters are also, unsurprisingly, focused on major national issues. Some of the loudest, in terms of advertising and “politicking,” are immigration and abortion.

While immigration doesn’t tend to touch us much here in the mountains (though it certainly has affected Denver), abortion is one issue that affects many, if not most of us. For better or worse, we live in a state that has among the most liberal abortion laws in the country. 

We are aware, of course, that the right to abortion is under threat everywhere in this country. And one of the proposed amendments to the State Constitution on the ballot this November, according to Ballotpedia, would “provide for a state constitutional right to abortion and repeal provision banning the use of public funds for abortions.” 

There are a number of other measures on the ballot that also affect our lives here. Here’s another: “Remove the provision of the state constitution that says ‘Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.’ ’’ Again, protecting a right we have seen in practice for years, but which is now under threat nationally.

Proposition 127 would prohibit trophy hunting, something that certainly affects members of our community. Proposition JJ would “allow the state to retain tax revenue collected above $29 million annually from the tax on sports betting proceeds,” which flouts TABOR and would add to the government’s general fund.

Amendment 80 puts “school choice” into our State Constitution for good or ill, while Amendment G would expand the property tax exemption for some disabled veterans.

Perhaps the most contentious of the propositions is No. 131, which would “establish top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting (RCV) for federal and state offices in Colorado.” This would completely change the way we vote, eliminating party-owned primaries and opening the electoral process dramatically for independents and third-party candidates. 

Have you been one of those voters who checks off the top boxes on the ballot and then ignores all the fine print below? This year, it’s certainly the time to read your Blue Book and then decide in which direction you want our state to go. One of the most useful changes the election system has made in recent years is to provide us, with mail-in ballots, the leisure of time to research each initiative and decide how to vote. Please use it wisely.