Colorado allows referenda and voter initiatives to pass new statutes or to change the state’s constitution. In 1988, this state passed an amendment to their state constitution making English the state’s official language. 15.1 percent of this state’s residents speak a language other than English. The most common of these languages are Spanish, German, French, and Korean. The number of Coloradoans who speak little or no English has more than tripled since 1990.

In 2002, Colorado voters rejected an initiative to replace bilingual education with English immersion. Opponents spent more than $3 million on an ad campaign which they later acknowledged included false information.

Official English Law in Colorado

COLORADO CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE II, SECTION 30 (1988)
The English language is the official language of the State of Colorado. This section is self-executing; however, the General Assembly may enact laws to implement this section.

LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN COLORADO

3,402,266	English
604,019	All languages other than English combined
421,670	Spanish or Spanish Creole
30,824	German
18,045	French (incl. Patois, Cajun)
12,499	Vietnamese
12,045	Korean
11,333	Chinese
10,737	Russian
6,605	Japanese
5,703	Italian
5,064	Polish
5,013	Tagalog
4,998	Arabic
4,273	African languages
3,533	Miao, Hmong
3,377	Scandinavian languages
3,300	Persian
2,753	Other Native North American languages
2,600	Serbo-Croatian
2,510	Navajo
2,494	Greek
2,292	Hindi
2,214	Thai
2,141	Portuguese or Portuguese Creole
1,852	Laotian
1,567	Mon-Khmer, Cambodian
1,492	Hebrew
1,284	Hungarian
1,083	Urdu
716	Gujarathi
470	Yiddish
400	Armenian
272	French Creole