The Poundstone Amendment is an amendment to the

Colorado Constitution The Constitution of the State of Colorado is the foundation of the laws and government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The current, and only, Colorado State Constitution was drafted on March 14, 1876; approved by Colorado voters on July 1, 1876 ...

enacted in 1974 concerning county annexations. The ballot initiative was drafted by Freda Poundstone, a Colorado politician and lobbyist who opposed the efforts of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

to absorb surrounding municipalities. Supporters claimed the amendment would prevent Denver from abusing its status and size, while detractors pointed out that it greatly limited the ability of the city to absorb other school districts and thus end segregation in its schools.Tom I. Romero, "Land, Culture, and Legal Exchange in Colorado's Mountains, Plains, and Deserts", 11 ''Exchange: practices and representations 125'' (2005).

Ballot initiative

Title

An act to amend Articles XIV and XX of the Constitution of the State of Colorado, concerning the annexation of property by a County or City and County, and prohibiting the striking off of any territory from a County without first submitting the question to a vote of the qualified electors of the County and without an affirmative vote of the majority of those electors.Colorado General Assembly: Ballot History, Ballot 1, 1974
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Text

Provisions of the Proposed Constitutional Amendment''An Analysis of 1974 Ballot Proposals''. Research Publication No. 206, page 1. Legislative Council of the Colorado Assembly, 1974. The proposed amendment to the State Constitution would: # Delete from the constitution the present requirement that annexation proceedings of the City and County of Denver be conducted under the general annexation laws applicable to all municipalities in the state (" The Municipal Annexation Act of 1965"). # Require that annexation proceedings of the City and County of Denver be conducted under the general annexation and consolidation statutes applicable to the other 62 counties in the state. # Permit the General Assembly, by law, to revise procedures for changing all county boundaries, including those of the City and County of Denver, and thereby eliminate the constitutional requirement of a vote by the qualified electors of those counties from which territory is proposed to be stricken.

Election results

Passed by 409,174 votes (58.4%) to 292,040 votes (41.6%).

References

1974 Colorado ballot measures Colorado law Initiatives in the United States Constitution of Colorado