City Considers Repealing Rule Limiting Petitions to Paper or Online Submission

The City of Boulder has proposed a repeal of the City Manager Rule limiting petitions to either paper or online submittals. Community members will have 15 days to submit comments on the proposed repeal, after which the repeal will be amended and submitted for review again or go into effect immediately.

The Boulder Direct Democracy Online (BDDO) petitioning system, introduced in January 2021, allows Petition Committee Groups to circulate petitions online, with paper, or both; however, previously only one set of signatures could be submitted for certification. The right to petition is a vital tool for a thriving democracy, and this step to increase accessibility to the petitioning process ensures our community members have multiple ways to make their preferences known.

As a result of upgrades to the BDDO system, which were made in response to community input, the city is now able to integrate and cross check paper petitions against online petitions. This allows both forms of signatures to be accepted – paper and online – in ways that will continue to maintain security and confidence in our electoral system and reduce barriers for community members in letting their voices be heard.  

Community members must be registered to vote in the City of Boulder to endorse any petition. An additional requirement to use the online petition system is an active phone number on your voter registration. The security of the system relies on multi-factor authentication, which requires a phone number on voter registration to verify identity. The BDDO is available utilizing most browsers and mobile devices. 

Learn more and access the online platform at  http://bit.ly/BoulderDirectDemocracyOnline.