ELECTION: Prop. 111, which limits rates on payday loans, passes

Proposition 111, which limits the rates and fees payday lenders can charge, passed with 76.7 percent of the vote. 

About 1,427,204 people voted in favor of the measure, which caps interest rates of payday loans at 36 percent. About 433,497 people, or 23.3 percent, voted no. All 64 counties have reported, according to the Colorado Secretary of State. 

Supporters of the measure were feeling confident Prop. 111 would pass, with 70 percent of the vote just 30 minutes after precincts closed.

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“We’re seeing numbers in the high 70s and we’re confident and excited that Colorado voters are voting against predatory lending and for economic justice,” Corrine Fowler, campaign manager for Prop. 111, told BizWest at 7:30 p.m. “We’re glad to have built a strong coalition with statewide support, bipartisan support for an economic justice issue and to do more work together.”

Critics of Prop. 111 said it could limit businesses that provide payday loans to people who cannot get loans from traditional sources like banks or friends and family. But supporters say limiting the rates on loans — from what can be 200 percent to 36 percent — helps keep people out of a cycle of debt and encourages the creation of alternative loans that are more fair to the borrowers.