

This year’s ballot presents Colorado voters with a pocketbook issue as direct as they come — should the state’s lowest wage workers receive a bump in pay.

About 55 percent of counted votes, or 965,485 ballots, were cast in favor of Amendment 70, which would lift the state’s minimum wage from its current rate of $8.31 an hour to $12 an hour by 2020, compared with 44.9 percent, or 790,922, against.

At 8:35 p.m., about 56 percent of the projected vote had been counted.

Amendment 70 has had strong backing from labor unions, advocacy groups and low-wage workers themselves. They argue a higher minimum wage will help workers on the bottom of the pay ladder keep pace with escalating living costs. Any pay increases, they say, money will go right back into the economy and help reduce reliance on public assistance.

That message resonates with many voters, especially along the Front Range, more so than warnings from opponents that the wage hike is so large it will cost jobs and hurt small businesses, especially in rural Colorado.

The vote was tracking with a Magellan Strategies poll last week showed 54 percent of Colorado voters were in favor of the measure, while 43 percent were opposed. Women, young adults, and Democrats were the strongest supporters.”

“We feel there has been a lot of enthusiasm in the campaign,” said Patty Kupfer, campaign manager for Colorado Families for a Fair Wage, which sent hundreds of volunteers out door-to-door in the campaign’s final four days.

Opponents argue the amendment is a blunt instrument that unlike other state measures fails to make allowances for small businesses and rural enterprises, where the recovery from the recession has been less than robust.

“A poorly written policy panned by virtual every newspaper in Colorado, because it would unfairly harm small businesses and rural communities, does not belong in Colorado’s constitution, no matter how many millions of dollars that out-of-state unions spend trying to convince voters otherwise,” said Tyler Sandberg, campaign manager of Keep Colorado Working, who called the issue one of small business versus big labor.

Several business groups, led by the Colorado Restaurant Association, have come out against the measure, as have Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan, John Elway and several editorial boards.

After hedging on the measure, Gov. John Hickenlooper, a former restaurateur, came out in favor, and the campaign has worked hard to recruit 300 business owners to its side.

The Obama administration has thrown its weight behind Amendment 70 and three other state minimum wage measures up for a vote across the U.S.

“The president gave clear instruction — use every tool in our tool box to help,” U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said on Friday.

Both presidential candidates have voiced support for a higher federal minimum wage.