| Summary |
The bill modifies the Uniform Election Code of 1992, the law
regarding initiatives and referendums, and the Fair Campaign Practices
Act.
Elections generally. The bill specifies that the county clerk and
recorder, as the chief election official for the county, sets the operational
hours of the clerk and recorder's office.
Qualification and registration of electors. The bill changes the
age at which an individual may preregister to vote from 16 to 15 years
old; repeals the authorization for a 17-year-old who is preregistered to
vote as an 18-year-old in a general election from voting as a 17-year-old
in a primary election or presidential primary election that precedes that
general election.
Political party organization. The bill specifies that when a state
senatorial district or state representative district is comprised of one or
more whole counties or of a part of one county and all or a part of one or
more other counties, a state senatorial central committee or a state
representative central committee consists of the elected precinct
committee persons, as well as the chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, and
secretary of the several party county central committees, who reside
within the state senatorial district or the state representative district.
Access to ballot by candidates. The bill specifies that the law
prohibiting a candidate who was defeated in a primary election from
participating in a general election does not apply to a candidate for
president of the United States; makes the deadlines for a candidate to file
a petition in a congressional vacancy election consistent with other
deadlines; makes the general timeline for circulating petitions to get on
the ballot applicable to presidential electors for unaffiliated presidential
candidates; aligns the minor political party candidate petition calendar
with the major political party candidate petition calendar; clarifies that an
unaffiliated candidate for president of the United States is exempt from
the requirement that a candidate be registered as unaffiliated with a
political party in the statewide voter registration system prior to the
general election; repeals the ability of a preregistrant to sign a petition to
nominate a candidate for a primary election; requires a candidate or
candidate committee, recall committee, or representative of a minority
party petition to submit a paid circulator report, if applicable, to the
secretary of state (secretary); and modifies the timing for a candidate to
cure a nominating petition signature deficiency.
Notice and preparation of elections. The bill requires the
secretary to administer a pilot program that allows the county clerk and
recorder or designated election official (clerk) of a county with at least
10,000 but fewer than 37,500 active electors and with at least 3 cities or
towns where the second and third largest cities or towns that are located
entirely within the county both have less than 3% of the active electors in
the county, to request a waiver of the requirement to designate 3 voter
service and polling centers (VSPC) on election day and instead designate
at least 2 VSPCs on election day; repeals an obsolete provision specifying
data to be used to determine the number of students enrolled at an
institution of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic; specifies
that for a general election, a county shall establish a drop box on each
campus of an institution of higher education located within the county
that has 1,000, rather than 2,000, or more enrolled students; clarifies that
each clerk is required to ensure that primary election ballots are printed
in accordance with existing law; repeals obsolete language regarding
voting equipment and makes a necessary conforming amendment; updates
several provisions regarding the use of voting systems to align with
current practice; requires the secretary to approve or deny an application
from a political subdivision to purchase a new electromechanical voting
system within 30 days of receiving the application; modifies the standards
for accessible voting systems to align with federal standards; and repeals
obsolete language regarding direct recording electronic voting systems.
Election judges. The bill changes the deadline by which the
county chairperson of each major political party in a county is required to
certify to the clerk the names and addresses of registered electors
recommended to serve as election judges in the county.
Conduct of elections. The bill allows a registered elector who will
not have been a Colorado resident for at least 22 days immediately before
a general election to cast a provisional ballot, which includes only a vote
for president and vice president, in that election; extends the deadline for
the secretary to adopt rules concerning the tabulation, reporting, and
canvassing of results for a coordinated election using instant runoff
voting conducted by multiple counties from January 1, 2025, to January
1, 2026; makes conforming amendments in connection with the repeal of
a preregistrant's authorization to vote in a primary election; updates
provisions regarding voting machines and the inspection of voting
machines by election judges; repeals obsolete provisions regarding
sample ballots, the seal on voting machines, the manner of voting by
eligible electors, write-in ballots, and how voting system software is
installed; clarifies that the secretary will conduct a random audit of voting
devices only if a risk-limiting audit is not possible after an election; and
extends the deadlines for the secretary to promulgate rules necessary to
conduct risk limiting audits in an election using instant runoff voting and
for a county to audit an election using instant runoff voting conducted as
part of a coordinated election from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026.
Mail ballot elections. The bill allows a clerk to request a waiver
from the secretary of state exempting the county from the remote location
drop box ballot collection requirements and specifies alternative
collection requirements if a waiver is granted; repeals obsolete provisions
that direct clerks how to count ballots that are cast on electronic or
electromechanical vote tabulating equipment; specifies the conditions
under which an elector may request a replacement ballot from the clerk;
and modifies the time by which an elector must request a replacement
ballot from the clerk.
Recounts. The bill repeals obsolete provisions regarding recounts
in nonpartisan local elections and clarifies who has standing to request a
recount challenge.
Certificates of election and election contests. The bill repeals
obsolete language regarding the election of precinct officers and
duplicative language regarding the resolution of tie votes and specifies
that a contest concerning a presidential elector must be filed with the
supreme court no later than 24 days after the general election and
specifies the deadline for the supreme court to rule on such a contest.
Recall elections. The bill modifies the deadline for filing a
nomination petition for a candidate to succeed an officer who is sought
to be recalled.
Initiative and referendum. The bill repeals an obsolete provision
regarding filing a paid circulator report with the secretary and repeals
obsolete language regarding the effective date of the bills enacted during
the 2020 legislative session that included an act subject to petition clause.
Fair campaign practices. The bill prohibits a natural person who
is not a citizen of the United States, a foreign government, or a foreign
corporation from making a direct ballot issue or ballot question
expenditure in connection with an election on a ballot issue or ballot
question in the state; specifies that a candidate seeking reelection does not
have to file an additional disclosure statement filed pursuant to current
law if the incumbent has filed the annual report required by law within
the last 30 days from which the incumbent becomes a candidate for
reelection; clarifies that any person may file a complaint with the
secretary of state about a candidate not complying with the disclosure
statement requirements; and requires a candidate for specified offices to
amend the disclosure statement when there is a substantial change of
interests in connection with which the disclosure is required.
The bill modifies the public official disclosure requirements
specified in the Colorado Sunshine Act of 1972 to require that specified
public officials file an annual disclosure statement with the secretary and
to amend the disclosure statement when there is a substantial change of
interests in connection with which the disclosure is required; requires
specified public officials who are serving in office in the 2024 calendar
year, but who have not filed an annual disclosure statement in the 2024
calendar year, to file a disclosure statement within a specified amount of
time; requires the disclosure statements to be available on the secretary's
website; repeals a provision that allows a public official to file an income
tax return with the secretary in lieu of filing certain information required
in the disclosure statement; allows any person who believes that a public
official is not complying with the public official's disclosure requirements
to file a complaint with a specified individual or entity as determined
based on the office held by the public official and requires the secretary
to notify the appropriate individual or entity if an official does not timely
file the required annual disclosure statement; and requires an individual
who receives a complaint to investigate the complaint using existing
procedures.
In addition, the bill amends the Colorado Open Records Act to
specify that if a clerk receives a request for records that are in active use,
in storage, or otherwise not readily available, and the request is made
during an election for which the clerk is the designated election official,
the clerk may take additional time to fulfill the request under certain
circumstances.
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