19-125. Form of ballot

A. The secretary of state, at the time the secretary of state transmits to the clerks of the boards of supervisors a certified copy of the name of each candidate for public office, shall transmit to each clerk a certified copy of the official title, the descriptive title and the number of each measure and proposed amendment to the constitution to be voted on at the ensuing regular general election.

B. Proposed constitutional amendments shall be numbered consecutively beginning with the number one hundred, proposed initiative measures shall be numbered consecutively beginning with the number two hundred, measures submitted under the referendum shall be numbered consecutively beginning with the number three hundred, and county and local issues shall be numbered consecutively beginning with the number four hundred.  Numbering shall be consecutive based on the order in which the initiative or referendum petitions are filed with the secretary of state. Individual numbering shall continue from the last number used in the previous election and shall not be repeated until all one hundred numbers in that series have been used.  Proposed constitutional amendments shall be placed by themselves at the head of the ballot column, followed by initiated and referred measures in that order. The number assigned to the measure by the secretary of state constitutes the official title of the measure and shall be used for identification of the measure by the state and the county in all subsequent official election materials, including the publicity pamphlet.

C. The officer in charge of elections shall print the official title and the descriptive title of each measure on the official ballot in the order presented to him by the secretary of state unless otherwise provided by law. The number of the measure shall be in reverse type and at least twelve point type. A proposed constitutional amendment shall be designated "proposed amendment to the constitution by the legislature", or "proposed amendment to the constitution by the initiative", as the case may be. A measure referred by the legislature shall be designated "referred to the people by the legislature", a measure referred by petition shall be designated "referendum ordered by petition of the people" and a measure proposed by initiative petition shall be designated "proposed by initiative petition".

D. A descriptive title shall be printed on the official ballot immediately below the number of the measure and the official title of each measure. The descriptive title shall contain a summary of the principal provisions of the measure, not to exceed fifty words, which shall be prepared by the secretary of state and approved by the attorney general and shall include the following or the ballot shall comply with subsection F of this section:

A "yes" vote shall have the effect of ______________________.

A "no" vote shall have the effect of _______________________.

The blank spaces shall be filled with a brief phrase, approved by the attorney general, stating the essential change in the existing law should the measure receive a majority of votes cast in that particular manner.  In the case of a referendum, a "yes" vote shall have the effect of approving the legislative enactment that is being referred.  The "yes" and "no" language shall be posted on the secretary of state's website after being approved by the attorney general and before the date on which the official ballots and the publicity pamphlet are sent to be printed.  Below the statement of effect of a "yes" vote and effect of a "no" vote there shall be printed the corresponding words "yes" and "no" and a place for the voter to put a mark as defined in section 16-400 indicating the voter's preference.

E. In addition to the information prescribed by subsection D of this section, for state statutory measures, the officer in charge of elections shall print on the official ballot immediately before the first proposed state statutory initiative measure and immediately before the first proposed state statutory measure submitted under the referendum the following statement:  "Notice:  Pursuant to proposition 105 (1998), these measures cannot be changed in the future if approved on the ballot except by a three-fourths vote of the members of each house of the legislature and if the change furthers the purpose of the original ballot measure, by an initiative petition or by referring the change to the ballot."

F. Instead of printing the official and descriptive titles or the full text of each measure or question on the official ballot, the officer in charge of elections may print phrases on the official ballot that contain all of the following:

1. The number of the measure in reverse type and at least twelve point type.

2. The designation of the measure as prescribed by subsection C of this section or as a question, proposition or charter amendment, followed by the words "relating to..." and inserting the subject.

3. Either the statement prescribed by subsection D of this section that describes the effects of a "yes" vote and a "no" vote or, for other measures, the text of the question or proposition.

4. The words "yes" and "no" or "for" and "against", as may be appropriate and a place for the voter to put a mark.

5. For state statutory measures, immediately before the first proposed state statutory initiative measure and immediately before the first proposed state statutory measure submitted under the referendum the following statement:  "Notice:  Pursuant to proposition 105 (1998), these measures cannot be changed in the future if approved on the ballot except by a three-fourths vote of the members of each house of the legislature and if the change furthers the purpose of the original ballot measure, by an initiative petition or by referring the change to the ballot."

G. For any ballot printed pursuant to subsection F of this section, the instructions on the official ballot shall direct the voter to the full text of the official and descriptive titles and the questions and propositions as printed on the sample ballot and posted in the polling place.