Colorado § 1-4-701 - Party nominations to be made by convention.

§ 1-4-701. Party nominations to be made by convention.

(1) Any convention of delegates of a political party or any committee authorized by resolution of the convention may nominate candidates for vacancies to unexpired terms of representatives in congress and for presidential electors and also may select delegates to national political conventions.

(2) (a) The certificate of nomination shall contain the name of the office for which each person is nominated and the person's name and address and shall designate, in not more than three words, the political party which the convention or committee represents.

(b) No certificate of nomination shall contain the names of more candidates for any office than there are offices to fill. If any certificate does contain the names of more candidates than there are offices to fill, only those names which come first in order on the certificate and are equally numbered with the number of offices to be filled shall be taken as nominated. No person shall sign more than one certificate of nomination for any office.

(c) When the nomination is made by a committee, the certificate of nomination shall also contain a copy of the resolution passed at the convention which authorized the committee to make the nomination.

(d) In the case of presidential electors, the names of the candidates for president and vice president may be added to the name of the political party in the certificate of nomination.

(3) Certificates of nomination shall be received and filed with the secretary of state no later than sixty days before the general or congressional vacancy election.

(4) Any person nominated in accordance with this section by any of the major political parties shall be deemed to have accepted the nomination unless the candidate files with the secretary of state a written declination of the nomination no later than four days after the adjournment of the convention. The declination may be transmitted by facsimile transmission no later than four days after the adjournment of the convention. If the declination is transmitted by facsimile transmission, the original declination must also be filed and postmarked no later than ten days after the adjournment of the convention.

Source: L. 80: Entire article R&RE, p. 329, § 1, effective January 1, 1981. L. 85: (3) amended, p. 248, § 6, effective July 1. L. 88: (4) amended, p. 1429, § 1, effective June 11. L. 92: Entire part amended, p. 683, § 6, effective January 1, 1993. L. 99: (3) and (4) amended, p. 764, § 23, effective May 20. L. 2012: (4) amended, (HB 12-1292), ch. 181, p. 680, § 12, effective May 17.

Editor's note: The provisions of this section are similar to several former provisions of § 1-14-107 as they existed prior to 1980. For a detailed comparison, see the comparative tables located in the back of the index.

Cross references: For methods of nomination, see §§ 1-4-502 and 1-4-503; for objections to nominations, see § 1-4-909.

ANNOTATION

I. General Consideration.

II. More Candidates Than Offices to Fill.

III. Filing Certificates with Secretary of State.

IV. Miscellaneous.

I. GENERAL CONSIDERATION.

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

The provision for acceptance of a nomination is so plain that it needs no construction other than that which its own language imports. O'Connor v. Smithers, 45 Colo. 23, 99 P. 46 (1908).

No convention or body of men can compel another to be a candidate for office against his will. O'Connor v. Smithers, 45 Colo. 23, 99 P. 46 (1908).

Only the political parties have the right to nominate by a convention or nominating committee. Schafer v. Whipple, 25 Colo. 400, 55 P. 180 (1898).

Nominees by either of the two leading political parties are not required to file an acceptance. O'Connor v. Smithers, 45 Colo. 23, 99 P. 46 (1908).

II. MORE CANDIDATES THAN OFFICES TO FILL.

The purpose of limiting the number of names on a certificate of nomination to the number of offices to be filled is to prevent the same persons nominating candidates for the same office by certificate as individuals under two or more party names. O'Connor v. Smithers, 45 Colo. 23, 99 P. 46 (1908).

An elector once having exercised the right to join in a certificate as an individual, nominating a candidate for office under some name adopted by the signers, cannot join in nominating the same person for the same office under some other name. O'Connor v. Smithers, 45 Colo. 23, 99 P. 46 (1908).

III. FILING CERTIFICATES WITH SECRETARY OF STATE.

Certificates of nomination must be presented for filing at the office of the secretary of state to some person in charge thereof during business hours. Cowie v. Means, 39 Colo. 1, 88 P. 485 (1906).

Certificates not filed in office of the secretary of state. Certain alleged certificates of nomination to fill vacancies were handed for filing to the secretary of state, on board a train bound for another city, at the union depot in Denver, preceding the general election to be held on November 6. It was held, that such action did not constitute a legal filing of such certificates, as of that date, it being necessary to tender such certificates for filing at the office of the secretary of state to some person in charge during business hours. Cowie v. Means, 39 Colo. 1, 88 P. 485 (1906).

IV. MISCELLANEOUS.

The convention revoked nomination power of the committee. A party convention sat two days, and on the first day it adopted a resolution empowering a committee to nominate the ticket which it had assembled; on the second day, without expressly rescinding the resolution, it proceeded to nominate a full ticket and then adjourned sine die. It was held that the action of the convention on the second day was a revocation of the power delegated to the committee. Leighton v. Bates, 24 Colo. 303, 50 P. 856 (1897).

Secretary of state has no power to decide between two sets of nominations. When two sets of nominations, both by conventions purporting to have been held by the same political party, and each in apparent conformity with this section, are certified to the secretary of state, he has no power to decide between them, but should certify both tickets to the county clerks in order that both may be printed upon the official ballots. People ex rel. Eaton v. Dist. Court, 18 Colo. 26, 31 P. 339 (1892).