Baxter is one of the 791 voters who make up the fabric of Precinct 113. The Gazette is profiling this southeast Colorado Springs neighborhood because it is one of El Paso County's only swing districts.

Residents of Precinct 113 are working class, ethnically diverse and politically indepen- dent. More than 40 percent of them are unaffiliated voters, and the precinct's voting history more closely mirrors the state of Colorado as a whole than it does the rest of Republican-leaning Colorado Springs.

Though voters in Precinct 113 may not have heard about an amendment aiming to put term limits on Supreme Court judges, many of them have heard that there will be a measure on the ballot dealing with gay marriage.

Amendment 43 is straightforward. It says marriage is only between a man and a woman, and it bans same-sex marriages. Referendum I goes in somewhat the other direction.

It would allow gay couples to enter into civil unions, essentially contractual agreements that would grant them some of the rights afforded to married couples. For instance, it would let gay couples pass along inheritance, see each other in the hospital and make end-of-life decisions for one another.

Although the two measures may seem in direct competition, experts on both sides of the issue say there is no conflict between the two. Both measures could pass and go into effect.

Hartman said she'd also heard a few things about Amendment 38, which would change the procedures for getting citizen initiatives on the ballot. Admitting she is not completely up to speed on all the provisions of the measure, she is concerned about the effort.

She worries that, if approved, Amendment 38 would dilute the power of representative democracy. At its core, Amendment 38 is meant to make it easier for citizens to change laws through the initiative process.

“I agree that if we put people in office because they are going to get things done, then we should give them the power to do that and not hinder them by throwing initiatives in their face,” she said.

One of the other measures that some Precinct 113 voters felt comfortable talking about was Amendment 42, which would raise Colorado's minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.85 an hour. The amendment would increase the minimum wage each year to match inflation.

Requires school districts to spend 65 cents of every $1 received from state on classroom instruction. Defines classroom instruction more broadly than Amendment 39.

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