With the avalanche of negative political advertising in Colorado this fall, it’s been easy to overlook local ballot issues — initiatives, referendums, amendments. Most voters are concentrating on the candidates, not the long blocks of small print which, in at least one county, fall on the back of the mail-in ballot and might easily be overlooked by a lot of voters.

One such block on the local Denver ballot is Initiative 300, a citizens’ initiative to form the Denver “Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission.” Yes, Jeff Peckman and his supporters managed to scrape up enough signatures to get the issue on the November ballot.

What an ridiculous waste of time, effort, and money. And it has so upset the city council that they are considering raising the requirement for getting such initiatives on the ballot. Peckman submitted 10,000 signatures, of which 4,211 were deemed valid — just over the required total of 3,974.

As explained by the Denver Post:

If the initiative passes, the mayor would have to appoint seven members to the commission, three of whom would need graduate degrees, and another with an M.D. At least one would have to be an expert “who had consulted at least 100 people regarding their alleged close encounters with extraterrestrial intelligent beings.”

The ballot language adds that commission members “who are not Denver residents may participate from anywhere in the universe by any means available.”

The duties of the commission would include evaluating the risks and benefits of potential encounters with extraterrestrials. The city also would have to publish on the city’s website evidence and testimony regarding extraterrestrials on earth.

If the name Peckman sounds familiar, it’s because he got a lot of attention back in 2008 by claiming to have a video of an extraterrestrial.

It’s Election 2010, folks. And witches are so passé.