| Amendment 8 | |
| Yes: | 514,228 |
| No: | 350,964 |
| Total: | 865,192 |
| Mapcaption: | ForAgainst |
| Question: | An Act to Amend Articles X and XI of the State Constitution to prohibit the State from levying taxes and appropriating or loaning funds for the purpose of aiding or furthering the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. |
The Denver Winter Olympics referendum was held in November 1972 following the awarding to Denver of the 1976 Winter Olympics.[1] [2]
The selection process for the 1976 Winter Olympics consisted of four bids, and saw Denver, Colorado, United States, selected ahead of Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The selection was made at the 70th IOC Session in Amsterdam on 12 May 1970.[3] In a 1972 referendum, voters in Colorado rejected funding for the Olympics, and for the only time a city awarded the Olympics rejected them.[4] Denver officially withdrew on 15 November, and the IOC then offered the Olympics to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they too declined owing to a change of government following elections. Whistler went on to be associated with neighbouring Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Sion, the runner-up, also declined. Salt Lake City, Utah, offered to host, then pulled its bid and was replaced by Lake Placid, New York.[5] [6] Still reeling from the Denver rejection, the IOC declined and on 5 February 1973, selected Innsbruck, Austria, which had hosted nine years earlier in 1964. In autumn 1974, Lake Placid was awarded the 1980 Winter Olympics, its second; Salt Lake hosted in 2002 and will again in 2034. To date, Colorado has yet to host an Olympics.
The amendment appeared on the ballot as:[7]
Richard Lamm was a state legislator from Denver when he led the campaign; after the referendum he was elected to three terms as governor, serving from 1975 to 1987.[8]
Within three months, Innsbruck, Austria was selected as the replacement city, hosting the Winter Olympics for the second time, after 1964.[9] [10]