Let’s be honest. It’s not even October, and we’re all probably a little burned out on this year’s election.

The presidential race — and all the chaos and drama therein — has been going since well before 2024 even began, and the deluge of dispiriting news has been nothing if not exhausting.

This is disappointing for so many reasons. But chief among them is that our elections should be hopeful events. Our votes should be cast with a clear vision for a better future, not simply to stave off the dissolution of democracy.

Thankfully, while headlines from Washington and the campaign trail may monopolize our attention, local politics are much more likely to affect our daily lives. And this November, the long list of ballot measures here in Colorado offers plenty to be hopeful about.

Take, for instance, three statewide ballot measures: Amendments 79, H and J. A “yes” vote on these three items will create a right to abortion in Colorado, establish an independent panel to oversee the ethical behavior of our judges, and repeal narrow-minded and outdated language prohibiting same-sex marriage from our constitution.

Amendment 79

A “yes” vote on the Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative ballot measure will do two key things: enshrine abortion access in our state’s constitution and remove an inequitable provision that restricts the use of public funds for abortion.

Currently, abortion is legal and protected by Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act, which became law in 2022. That bill codified a “person’s fundamental right to make reproductive health-care decisions free from government interference.”

But we have now all seen what can happen to rights that are not guaranteed by a constitution. A bill like the Reproductive Health Equity Act was passed by our elected officials, so it could be undone by them too.

If thinking about hypotheticals isn’t convincing, consider this: Our state’s constitution is a living, breathing document. It was, by its very nature, meant to be amended. America’s founders and Colorado’s first leaders did not profess to know everything. That is the point of an amendment. Because we are always growing and learning and adapting.

Our constitution is a reflection of who we are. It is a reflection of our values.

A “yes” vote will codify the right to an abortion into our state constitution and guarantee access to reproductive health care — no matter what our lawmakers do.

It will also make it legal for public funds to be used for abortion. This does not mean the government will start paying for abortions. But it does mean that publicly funded insurance plans can provide coverage for abortion, thus expanding access to government employees and those on Medicaid.

A woman’s right to make health care decisions about her body is fundamental. Let’s add it to our Bill of Rights in Colorado.

Amendment H

One only has to look to the U.S. Supreme Court to recognize the need for increased oversight of the justices who uphold and apply the law. After a series of contentious rulings and a bevy of scandals, only 16% of Americans have high confidence in the highest court in the land, according to a survey from June. Considering how vital our courts are to the functioning of our government, that is alarming.

Colorado, of course, is not immune to such scandals. Former Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Coats was accused of authorizing a multimillion-dollar contract to a high-ranking Judicial Department employee who had threatened a tell-all sex-discrimination lawsuit, though, quid pro quo was never established. Coats was eventually censured by a special judicial tribunal — but only after the scandal was uncovered by a Denver Post investigation.

A “yes” vote on Amendment H, the Independent Judicial Discipline Adjudicative Board Amendment, would scrap the state’s outdated Commission on Judicial Discipline and replace it with an independent board, and it would set standards for the judicial review process.

Vote “yes” on Amendment H to help restore integrity to the judicial branch of our government.

Amendment J

Much like Amendment 79, Amendment J could be viewed as a preemptive ballot measure. Thanks to the 2015 landmark Supreme Court ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges, same-sex marriage has been legal in Colorado for nearly a decade. Many, then, will likely be surprised to learn that same-sex marriage is technically constitutionally barred in our state. Obergefell made Colorado’s ban unenforceable, but the language remains nonetheless.

“Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state,” Article II, Section 31 reads.

In a perfect world, Obergefell would have put an end to bigoted and bygone homophobia. The long overdue ruling ushered in a normalization of same-sex marriages and LGBTQ rights (generally speaking and at least in places like Colorado).

But the fact of the matter is, that same-sex unions are not enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The only thing keeping them legal is the Supreme Court’s ruling, which rests on an interpretation of the 14th Amendment — the very amendment that the court reinterpreted in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Worse still, in that controversial ruling, the court’s most radical justice, Clarence Thomas, laid out in his opinion a vision of an America with no right to contraception, same-sex intimacy or same-sex marriage. While no one else signed onto Thomas’ egregious treatise, in a post-Roe world it is not hard to imagine more constitutional rights toppling.

If Obergefell were to be overruled, Colorado’s ban could once again become law.

A “yes” vote on Amendment J, the Remove Constitutional Same-Sex Marriage Ban Amendment, would relegate our archaic ban to the history books.

This election season may be exhausting, and national politics may have left us all feeling burned out — with more than a month to go before election day — but with such vital local issues on the line, staying civically engaged is a must.

On Nov. 5, Colorado must reaffirm that the freedoms and rights of Coloradans are all equal here. Vote “yes” on amendments 79, H and J to protect women’s reproductive rights once and for all, to ensure our judges are held to the highest ethical standards, and to make sure we never go backward on LGBTQ rights.

A brighter, more equitable future is ahead of us — all we have to do is vote for it.

Gary Garrison for the Editorial Board.