Colorado's ballot measures are the hardest to read in the U.S.

• How hard?
• Try grad school. And then some.

By the numbers: The state's ballot titles average a 33rd-grade reading level — theoretically 17 years of schooling beyond a bachelor's degree.

• That's a readability score, not an education requirement. But still.

• At an average 86 words apiece, the titles' complexity blows past the national average of 17th grade.

😵‍💫 Stunning stat: Colorado's Amendment 83 — which seeks to create a constitutional right to hunt and fish and, "in connection therewith," establish those activities as "the preferred means of managing fish and wildlife populations," while preserving regulations "necessary for sound scientific wildlife conservation and management" — clocks in at a staggering 48th-grade reading level.

• That's the highest reading level of any ballot measure in the nation this election cycle, according to Ballotpedia.

Enter Amendment 85: Colorado voters are being asked whether future ballot questions should be written at an eighth-grade reading level or lower.

• Supporters say it'll make ballots easier to understand. New York already has a similar standard.

The other side: Critics warn oversimplifying could leave voters less informed.

• They argue it could undermine transparency rules, including a new state law requiring tax-cut measures to spell out which government programs could lose funding.
• Some also say it could open the floodgates to lawsuits over ballot wording.

Yes, and: State lawmakers already passed a law this year requiring plain language on ballots.

Between the lines: Further fueling critics' concerns is who's behind Amendment 85.

• Conservative group Advance Colorado — cofounded by Republican billionaire Phil Anschutz — has repeatedly used ballot initiatives to advance its policy priorities.

What we're watching: Amendment 85 needs 55% approval to pass because it would change the state Constitution.