because if you can pass coloradocare, then i guarantee you states all over this country will be following in your footsteps. amy: as millions go to the polls today, we'll look at some of the most important decisions voters will make. no, not the presidential, senate or congressional races, but more than 150 measures in 35 states, more than in any election in the last decade. they are ballot initiatives. one closely watched race is colorado's citizen-initiated amendment 69, which would finance universal health care , other states are set to vote on marijuana legalization, guns, public education, taxes, and the death penalty. then to the battle ground state of ohio, where investigative reporter greg palast. >> today on election day, they are not going to use white sheets to keep away black voters. today, they are using -- amy: media coverage for who will be president -- that is, who will win the electoral college. we will speak with rob richie, director of fairvote, who wants to establish a national popular vote so all states count. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, de

-coloradocare -- the state-run health insurance-- failed voters chose t presidential primaries -- as well as making them open primaries to unaffiliated voters. an increase in minimum wage has passed. more restrictions to prevent amendments to the state constitution has passed, and the measure to allow property tax exemption for possessory interests failed the involuntary servitude is too close call --the increase on tobacco taxes failed coloradans shot down amendment 69. this measure would have been health plan. the coverage would've been called "colorado- care". the measure was defeated 80 percent to 20- percent. more than half of voters chose to approve amendment 70. this measure would increase minimum wage to 12-dollars by 2020. 1-point 2 million people or 54- percent voted yes. people voted to to make the constitution harder to amend. of more than 2- million votes, 1- point-2 million votes were for the measure. percent. the colorado cigarrette tax measure failed. more than 1-point-2 million people voted no on amendment 72. it was the most expensive measure on the ballot here. tob

amy: supporters of coloradocare say the system could operate in the black for at least nine years. more than any other issue, however, ballot initiatives that address income inequality and economic insecurity are at the heart of many of this year's measures. maine, colorado, arizona, washington all will vote on minimum wage increases. south dakota will vote on protections against predatory lenderers. and in the country's most expensive ballot initiative fight, big pharma has poured nearly $100 million into california's proposition 61, which would prevent price gouging for prescription drugs. for morere, we arere joined by o guests. justine sarver is executive director of the ballot initiative strategy center. joining us from washington, d.c., sarah anderson director of , the global economy project at the institute for policy studies. her article for truthout is headlined "seventeen ballot , initiatives to watch if you care about inequality." welcome to democracy now! let's go to justine and jackson, mississippi, first. talk about ballot initiatives. there are more than 160 on the b