Colorado’s election results show us voters are spending time examining a major ballot measure

of colorado election results tell us most of our neighbors felt more bad than good about Tuesday night’s presidential results, but what about the down-ballot races?

Colorado voters navigated a complex vote filled with policy questions and did a remarkable job of parsing the pros and cons of each measure.

As Donald Trump regains the White House with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, we are thrilled that voters in Colorado added constitutional protections to abortion. 61% of voters wanted reproductive freedoms included in the state constitution and repealed the old law that prevented Medicaid from covering abortion.

Our voices on abortion, along with the majority of voters who support abortion rights in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, and New York, send a strong message that abortion should not be outlawed by federal lawmakers.

Colorado voters have made it clear they want to get tougher on crime; They set aside $350 million from the state’s general fund for police officers’ salaries, bonuses, training and a fund to be used in case they are injured or killed. Voters also said they do not want murder suspects released on bail and want criminals to serve at least 85% of their sentences.

This dovetails with what’s happening across the country, where every county in California has approved a ballot measure repealing a law considered soft on crime. This also partly explains Trump’s landslide victory.

But Colorado voters rejected other conservative measures, including a ballot measure that would have guaranteed school choice to Coloradans. While we love our charter schools, we recognize that vouchers given to wealthy students currently attending private schools will only weaken our public school finances.

The most surprising result was that voters rejected a ban on mountain lion and bobcat hunting and trapping. Coloradans have historically voted in favor of animal rights at the ballot box, and this was, of course, a refreshing turn for a measure that went too far to be flatly rejected.

Denver voters followed a similar path this election, defeating the initiatives closing a lamb slaughterhouse and banning the sale of fur within city limits. Both measures were introduced by a group that believes killing any animal for food or clothing should be classed as animal cruelty.

We have been complaining about the existence of the urban/rural divide for years, but this gap seems to be closing; 55% of voters opposed Proposition 127’s hunting ban. In a state beloved for its wild places, it’s healthy to respect all forms of outdoor recreation. But voters also voted to tax gun sales to ensure firearms help pay for victim advocacy services in this state.

Our state is politically diverse. As of Thursday, 1.47 million people voted for Kamala Harris and 1.16 million people voted for Trump.