John TytusColorado 2026 ballot

Amendment 84: ID numbers on mail ballots

Constitutional amendment, citizen initiative. Needs 55% to pass.

What it does

For federal and statewide elections, if you vote by mail, you would have to include the last four digits of your Social Security number, Colorado driver's license number, or Colorado ID card number, in addition to the current signature check. Any Colorado ID used must comply with the federal Real ID law. If the number is missing or doesn't match the voter database, the county has to contact you, and you have eight days after Election Day to fix it by sending a copy of an accepted ID. If you don't fix it, the ballot isn't counted. In-person ID rules don't change. In 2024, 92% of Colorado ballots were mail ballots.

Blue Book arguments

For: ID numbers are more objective than signature matching, most voters already have one, anyone without one can vote in person, and this adds security without giving up the convenience of mail voting.

Against: Signature verification already works, the extra step adds an unnecessary burden without meaningfully improving election security, eligible voters could lose their ballot over a small mistake, and people with privacy concerns or without the right ID will be discouraged from voting by mail.

What it costs

Up to $2.7 million in the first year (2026-27) and $1.2 million a year after that, mostly for counties. The state reimburses about 45% of county costs and spends $100,000 the first year and $200,000 the second on voter outreach, then about $20,000 for each presidential primary, statewide primary and general election.

Who is paying

Money as of the Sept 21, 2026 filing.

For: $4.2 million

Committee Raised Spent
Colorado Voter Trust Initiative $4,200,000 $3,350,000

Three donors, all giving between June 1 and Sept 11, 2026:

Filings list a Colorado address for $2.2 million of the $4.2 million (52%); that address is the Colorado Springs mail service used by the Coalition. The yes side's money is about nine times what the one active opposition committee has raised, and that committee is spread across nine measures.

Suzanne Taheri, a conservative attorney and former deputy secretary of state, and Chuck Broerman, a former El Paso County clerk, are backing the measure through the Colorado Voter Trust Initiative. Supporters say it adds a second way to confirm a ballot belongs to the right voter, reinforcing confidence in elections. Advance Colorado, a Denver political nonprofit, also backs it.

Against: under $500,000, and shared with eight other measures

Committee Raised Spent
Vote Common Sense (registered against nine measures) $495,000 $81,367
Defend Our Ballots $0 $0

Vote Common Sense's top donors: Green Advocacy Project, Washington DC, $200,000 (which gets its money from groups such as the Advocacy Action Fund; both are headed by Credo Mobile CEO Michael Kieschnick); Merle Chambers, Denver, $100,000 (philanthropist and Leith Ventures CEO); AFSCME, $25,000. About 55% in-state. How much of it goes to fighting 84 specifically isn't reported.

Groups that have said they oppose it: League of Women Voters of Colorado, Mi Familia Vota, Common Cause Colorado, Colorado Democratic Party.

Where the parties stand

Democrats: the Colorado Democratic Party opposes Amendment 84, as reported by Colorado Newsline (Lindsey Toomer, Sept 23, 2026).

Republicans: no position from the Colorado Republican Party found as of Sept 30, 2026. The Weld County Republican Party, a county party, recommends a yes vote (its Resolution WCRCC-2026-09, adopted Sept 15, 2026).

No minor-party position found as of Sept 30, 2026.

What isn't known

Who funds the three groups paying for the yes side. Who funds the Green Advocacy Project, Vote Common Sense's largest donor. How much of Vote Common Sense's money goes to Amendment 84 rather than its other eight measures.

Sources

Note on Advance Colorado: it backs six of this year's measures, including this one. A Colorado Newsline commentary, quoting the Denver Post, describes its funders as "an invite-only group of four or five dozen donors who gather for dinner twice a year." That is a journalist's description, not a filing.