2 Anti-Fracking Proposals May Not Make It On Ballot

DENVER (CBS4) - It appears that there's a slim chance two anti-fracking petitions will have enough signatures to make it on the ballot in November.

Each petition needs about 98,000 valid signatures to get on. Documents obtained by CBS4 show they have only 105,000 signatures. And with an average rejection rate of about 30 percent, that would mean there are not enough valid signatures to get on the ballot.

The outcome won't be known until early next month, but former Secretary of State Scott Gessler said it would be unprecedented if they were to make it.

"For them to be able to do that would require a level of sophistication -- a level of up front work to make sure their signatures were absolutely correct to begin with -- that has never occurred in Colorado for a ballot initiative," Gessler said.

Dan Haley, the head of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, said the measures would effectively ban 95 percent of hydraulic fracturing in the five biggest producing counties in Colorado.

"If there's enough of a pressure to get something approved at the ballot box, you can get the signatures. I don't think Coloradans want land use regulations cemented into their state constitution," Haley said.

Organizers of the petition efforts didn't respond to CBS4's requests for comment on Thursday.