Colorado Unity, the statewide coalition dedicated to preserving and promoting equal opportunity, has launched a "Decline to Sign" campaign to inform Colorado voters about the impact of petitions currently being circulated for an anti-affirmative action ballot initiative funded by California millionaire Ward Connerly.
"Colorado voters must know that though this is billed as the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, signing those petitions could very well mean just the opposite – the end of even the most modest of equal opportunity and affirmative action programs in Colorado," commented Linda Meric, a Colorado Unity Co-Chair.
In mid September, an evenly-split Colorado Supreme Court cleared the way for the petitions to be carried when the court upheld language in the proposed ballot initiative. Now, Connerly's group needs to collect a requisite 76,000 voter signatures to place the question on the November 2008 ballot.
"Since Colorado has some of the lowest signature thresholds in the nation for ballot initiatives we realize that it's likely that the signatures will be collected by the proponents of this misleading initiative," said Colorado Unity Co-Chair Bill Vandenberg. "But voters must also be aware of the unscrupulous track record of this group in other states [1]. They have gathered signatures using half-truths, outright lies and complete deception. They have even told people that their signatures would preserve affirmative action. They have said anything to win and we cannot let that happen in Colorado."
"Based on their poor track record for the truth," Meric added, "we want to be proactive about the petitions. Colorado voters need to know that this is an attempt to fool them and they must guard against it by declining to sign the petitions."
Those who witness or hear about troubling occurrences involving the Connerly petition carriers are asked to report those incidents to Colorado Unity by calling 303.628.3895.
For more information contact:
Linda Meric: 303.520.3177
or
Bill Vandenberg: 720.291.5621
[1] Report of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission Regarding the Use of Fraud and Deception in the Collection of Signatures for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative Ballot Petition, June 7, 2006
