On June 1, Colorado Governor Bill Owens vetoed HB 1147, which would have eased restrictions on who can circulate a petition. The bill would have let any adult U.S. citizen who is a resident of Colorado circulate any kind of petition, anywhere in the state. Governor Owens said he vetoed the bill for two reasons: (1) he feels that petitions to get a candidate on the ballot in a partisan primary should only be circulated by members of that party; (2) he favors requiring circulators to wear a badge indicating whether they are being paid or not.

The current Colorado laws on who can circulate a petition (for initiatives, anyway) were held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 in Buckley v American Constitutional Law Foundation. The Governor said the laws held unconstitutional ought to be repealed, but that there is no reason to repeal other such laws that have not yet been declared unconstitutional.