By Chase Woodruff | senior reporter
The secretary of state on Friday officially certified Colorado’s 2026 general election ballot, finalizing the candidates, constitutional amendments and statutory propositions in the order they’ll appear on the ballots set to be mailed out to voters next month. President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict vote-by-mail in the 2026 midterms could soon be headed back to the Supreme Court, as the administration presses forward with U.S. Postal Service rules that states suing to block the move say would lead to chaos. State and local elections officials have said they’re confident mail ballots will be sent out to Colorado voters as scheduled beginning Oct. 2. Below are some of our other top stories from the week.
Canvassers received petition packets as they prepared to gather signatures in support of a graduated income tax ballot measure at a Protect Colorado’s Future event in Denver on July 18, 2026. (Photo by Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)
By Chase Woodruff
Coloradans will vote this November on a ballot measure that would raise income taxes on the top 3% of earners and slightly cut them for everyone else. Backers of Proposed Initiative 195 submitted a sufficient number of petition signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot, the Colorado secretary of state’s office said Tuesday. As a constitutional measure, the initiative needed the support of at least 2% of the registered voters in each of Colorado’s 35 state Senate districts, in addition to a total of 124,238 valid signatures.
Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, center, leaves the courtroom after her trial in Grand Junction on Aug. 12, 2024. A jury found her guilty on 7 of 10 criminal charges. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline)
By Lindsey Toomer
Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters did not accept a position with a California county’s elections office, she said in a statement Tuesday. Peters, a prominent election denier who was convicted for her role in a breach of her office’s election system, was rumored to be up for a job with the Shasta County Elections Office in Northern California. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis commuted Peters’ prison sentence, and the Colorado Department of Corrections released her on June 1.
Alex Sánchez, CEO of Voces Unidos, speaks during Latino Advocacy Day on March 17, 2025 at the Colorado Capitol. (Photo by Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)
By Sara Wilson
More Latino voters in Colorado think the state is heading in the wrong direction than the right one, the first time that’s been the case in six years of an annual policy poll on their views. Forty-six percent of Latino voters told researchers they think the state is in a decline, according to poll results from the Colorado Latino Policy Agenda. Forty percent think the state is heading in the right direction, and 15% don’t know.
TIMELINE 1876
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Election experts see few legal options for Trump to meddle with polling places | By Jennifer Shutt
Commentary: Bear attacks in Colorado are climate attacks | By Quentin Young
Thanks for reading Newsliner. Did you know our daily morning newsletter is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.