March 04, 2010 07:03 PM UTC

"Personhood" Fails 2010 Ballot, Pending Hail Mary

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• by: Colorado Pols

Bad news for Democrats from the Secretary of State, reports the Grand Junction Sentinel:

A proposed initiative for the 2010 ballot to define a person at the moment of conception failed to turn in enough signatures, Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher announced Wednesday.

Buescher said the petitions, which were turned into his office Feb. 12, fell well short of the 76,047 needed to make the November ballot.

A random sampling of the signatures resulted in more than 3,000 being rejected. Random sampling is the normal method for verifying signatures, which is why most petition circulators turn in thousands more signatures than needed. This one only turned in 79,648.

But under state law, the ballot supporters have 15 days, until March 18, to collect additional signatures to correct the problem.

We know Democrats who really hope proponents (like Cory Gardner) can get enough signatures turned in by then, though it seems unlikely. The reason is simple enough: in 2008, Amendment 48, “personhood’s” prior incarnation, failed at the polls by over 70% of the vote. Despite its billing as a GOTV winner for conservatives, if anything it had the exact opposite effect.

Our understanding is that Democrats need all the help they can get–another chance to contrast themselves against the Colorado Right to Life hardcores, while most Republicans fumble for non-answers that won’t alienate one or both sides, would be a welcome gift. A poll follows.

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