AURORA | Referendum O would make it easier to citizen initiatives to get a vote on state statutes, but more difficult to put an initiative up for the state Constitution.

According to the state blue book, the measure would raise the signature requirement for constitutional amendments by more than 15,000 signatures and add a distribution requirement for at least 8 percent of petition signatures to be gathered in each congressional district for a constitutional amendment.

In addition, Referendum O would also establish an earlier deadline for filing an initiative and allow the public and state legislators to comment on proposed initiatives at a public meeting.

Colorado citizens have the ability to propose new state laws or changes to existing laws by collecting petition signatures. The proposed laws are then put up for approval by voters.

In general, the state constitution is considered a more permanent set of laws and is harder to remove or change laws once they are in place. State statutes, however, are more easily changed because they require legislative approval.

Currently, the signature requirement for statutory and constitutional amendments is the same, which supporters say should not be the case. The measure would require roughly 50 percent more signatures for a constitutional initiative than a statutory one.

The exact number of votes is determined by taking a percentage of the amount of votes cast for secretary of state. Currently, both statury and constitutional amendments require 5 percent of that total, or 76,047 signatures.

Referendum O would require an amount equal to 6 percent of all votes cast for governor at the most recent election, increasing that total to 93,497 signatures. State laws would require an amount equal to 4 percent of all votes cast for governor, decreasing the number of signatures needed to 62,331 signatures.

Currently, the time limit for collecting the signatures for both types of legislation is six months. Referendum O would expand that deadline to nine months for state laws, but keep it at six months for constitutional initiatives.

The referendum would also change the review process for constitutional initiatives, requiring proponents to submit the language of the initiative no later than the 60th day of the legislative session prior to an election. The change would mean the bill would need to be submitted roughly two months earlier than required now.

Supporters say the measure is needed because it will promote the proposition of statutory laws rather than constitutional laws. Lawmakers say it preserves the citizens right to enact laws, while giving lawmakers the ability to react when laws require clarification or when unforeseen circumstances arise.

They also say that requiring more signatures as well as signatures from all areas of the state for constitutional measures will ensure a wide range of support before they are placed on the ballot - — preventing certain parts of the state from dictating constitutional law that might not be applicable in other areas.

Many legislators have said that changing constitutional law in the state is close to impossible once the law is enacted.

Opposition to the referendum says that it makes it harder and more expensive for citizens to initiate constitutional changes on issues that state lawmakers, judges and governor fail to address. Opposition also says that the requirement to collect a certain number of signatures from around the state could lead to one congressional district blocking changes desired by the rest of the state. They noted that if Colorado were to expand its congressional districts from seven to 13, the supporters of a constitutional change would have to collect more signatures than the amount equal to six percent of all votes cast for governor.

In the past 50 years, voters have rejected nearly two-thirds of all citizen-initiated constitutional amendments.