One of the proudest rights I earned when I became an American citizen was the right to vote.

I came to this country believing deeply in democracy and in having a voice in the decisions that shape our communities. Becoming a citizen meant I finally had that voice. I took that responsibility seriously.

What I did not expect was that sometimes the hardest part of voting would be figuring out what the ballot was asking me.

I remember reading some of Colorado’s ballot questions once, then again, and still wondering: What exactly does a “yes” vote do? What does a “no” vote do?

And I know I am not alone.

In 2024, the average Colorado ballot title tested at a grade-24 reading level. The national average was already very high at grade 16.

Think about that. We are asking people to make important decisions about their communities and their state, but making the questions unnecessarily hard to understand.

Why?

Sometimes we have to stop and ask whether we are making something more complicated than it needs to be. This is one of those times.

The issues voters decide can be complicated. Taxes are complicated. Elections are complicated. Education, housing, and health care are complicated.

But the question we ask the voter does not have to be.

That is why African Leadership Group supports Amendment 85.

The idea is straightforward. Amendment 85 would require citizen ballot questions to be written in plain English and at no higher than an eighth-grade reading level. If the legislature adds language to a ballot question, that language would have to meet the same standard.

The initiative does not limit what citizens can put on the ballot or what they can propose. And it does not tell anyone how to vote.

It simply asks us to make the choice clear.

This is not about making it easier to vote yes. It is about making it easier to understand what yes and no mean.

Some people may hear “eighth-grade reading level” and think we are talking about dumbing something down. I see it differently.

Anyone who has tried to explain a complicated idea clearly knows that simple writing is not easy. It takes discipline. It means cutting unnecessary jargon and saying what we mean in a way people can understand.

That responsibility should belong to the system, not the voter.

We should not expect someone to become a lawyer or policy expert before they can understand their ballot.

Voters want to understand the question. They want to know what yes means and what no means. Then they want the freedom to decide for themselves.

For 20 years, African Leadership Group has worked to help people find their voice and use it. We encourage people to vote, understand how government works, speak up, get involved, and take their place at the table.

Much of that work happens with immigrants and people learning to navigate systems that may be unfamiliar to them. But this issue is not just about immigrants. It is not about education level, political party or where someone was born.

Clear language benefits everyone.

We can tell people their voices matter and ask them to learn about the issues. But government has a responsibility too.

If we are going to ask people to decide, we should make sure they can understand the question.

Amendment 85 will not make every issue simple. It will not eliminate disagreement. Nor should it.

People should study the issues, debate them and reach their own conclusions.

But whatever your politics and whatever issues you support, we should be able to agree on this much: Colorado voters deserve to understand the questions we ask them to decide.

That seems like a pretty reasonable place to start.