The Colorado Secretary of State’s office is considering initiatives for the November ballot, and a group that wants to see questions about fracking requirements claims the agency is biased.
The group “Yes for Health and Safety Over Fracking” filed a complaint, requesting that the communications director for the Colorado Secretary of State, not be part of counting petition signatures. That’s after she tweeted about receiving “lots of boxes with very few petitions in them.”
The group claims it has met the required number of signatures to get on the ballot, including over 300 from people in Battlement Mesa. The initiatives ask for local control over fracking and a 2,500 foot setback from occupied buildings.
“It’s the only thing out there that’s a guarantee that we’ll have any required distance other than 500 feet from someone’s backdoor,” said Doug Saxton, co-chair of the group Battlement Concerned Citizens.
The state has until Sept. 7 to announce what makes the ballot.