Local ballot measures

Polling for Colorado counties

Counties ask voters about sales and use taxes, property tax mill levies, open space and trails, transportation and transit, airports, TABOR revenue retention, and changes to term limits for county officials. We poll for the commissioners weighing a referral and for the committees that run the campaigns.

Measures we have polled

Aspen and Pitkin County · 2024

Aspen/Pitkin County Airport

Dueling airport questions: 1C reaffirmed the county commissioners’ authority over the runway plan; Question 200 would have required a public vote before runway changes.

1C passed with about two-thirds of the vote; 200 failed

What counties bring to voters

Sales, use, and property tax questions
Open space, trails, and conservation funding
Transportation, transit, and airport questions
TABOR revenue retention (de-Brucing)
Term limits for county officials

What the poll answers

Can it pass? Support and intensity among the voters who will turn out in that election.
How much, and for what? The amount, rate, or duration voters will accept, and the priorities that carry it.
In what words? The TABOR ballot title voters will actually read.
With what argument? The case for and against, tested head to head.

Polling this electorate

County electorates span cities, unincorporated areas, and very different communities: a resort town and a ranching valley can sit in the same county and vote very differently. We sample the whole county from the voter file, set quotas by region within it, and model the likely electorate for the election you’re in.

Questions

What does TABOR require of a county tax question?

A new tax, a tax rate increase, or new multi-year debt needs voter approval, and the ballot title must open with the required “SHALL (COUNTY) TAXES BE INCREASED…” or “SHALL (COUNTY) DEBT BE INCREASED…” language with the dollar amounts. We test that title, not a paraphrase.

How do you handle a county with very different regions?

We set quotas by region inside the county, so a large city doesn’t drown out smaller towns and unincorporated areas, and we report results by region.

Can a county pay for polling on its own ballot measure?

Colorado’s Fair Campaign Practices Act bars a local government from spending public money to urge a yes or no vote on a ballot issue once it has been referred or submitted for a title, so government-funded research usually comes first: whether to go to the ballot at all, for how much, for which projects, and in which election. Persuasion and message testing after referral are typically paid for by the campaign committee. Your attorney has the final word on where that line falls for your measure.

All local ballot measures → Cities and towns → School districts → Special districts →

Talk to us about your research

Keating Research is based in Denver. You work directly with the people who design, field, and analyze your research. We travel throughout Colorado and the Mountain West for in-person work: client meetings, board and staff retreats, and presentations to city councils, commissions, and agencies.

Contact us