Colorado § 1-4-908 - Review of petition - signature verification - notification - cure - rules.

§ 1-4-908. Review of petition - signature verification - notification - cure - rules.

(1) Upon filing, the designated election official for the political subdivision shall review all petition information and verify the information against the registration records, and, where applicable, the county assessor's records. The secretary of state shall establish guidelines for verifying petition entries.

(1.5) (a) In any election conducted after January 1, 2018, for any petition that must be filed with the secretary of state in accordance with section 1-4-907, the secretary of state shall compare each signature on a candidate petition with the signature of the eligible elector stored in the statewide voter registration system. The secretary of state may use a signature verification device to compare the signatures.

(b) (I) If it is determined that the signature on the petition does not match the signature of the eligible elector stored in the statewide voter registration database, or if a signature verification device is unable to determine that the signatures match, a second review shall be made by an employee of the secretary of state's office or a designee trained in signature verification. If the employee or designee agrees that the signatures do not match, the secretary of state shall, within three days of completing review of the entire petition, notify the candidate of such deficiency.

(II) To cure a signature that failed the signature verification process described in subsection (1.5)(b)(I) of this section, a candidate must provide the secretary of state with a statement, signed by the elector whose signature failed the verification process, that states substantially that the elector signed the petition. The statement must be accompanied by a copy of the elector's identification, as defined in section 1-1-104 (19.5). The secretary of state shall prescribe the form for the statement. To cure the signature deficiency, the candidate must return the statement and a copy of the elector's identification to the secretary of state within five days of the date the secretary notifies the candidate of the signature deficiency.

(III) The secretary of state may promulgate rules, in accordance with article 4 of title 24, to implement this subsection (1.5).

(2) (Deleted by amendment, L. 95, p. 832, § 36, effective July 1, 1995.)

(2.5) If, while verifying a signer's information against the registration records in accordance with subsection (1) of this section, the designated election official finds that the signer provided his or her mailing address rather than his or her residence address as required under section 1-4-904 (3), the designated election official may accept the signature line as valid if the designated election official is able to locate the signer's record in the statewide voter registration database and determine that the signer was eligible to sign the petition.

(3) After review, the official shall notify the candidate of the number of valid signatures and whether the petition appears to be sufficient or insufficient. In the case of a petition for nominating an unaffiliated candidate, the official shall provide notification of sufficiency or insufficiency to the candidate no later than ninety-six days before the general election. Upon determining that the petition is sufficient and after the time for protest has passed, the designated election official shall certify the candidate to the ballot, and, if the election is a coordinated election, so notify the coordinated election official.

(4) If a partisan candidate who submitted a candidate petition for review accesses the ballot by assembly before the designated election official declares the petition sufficient or insufficient, the candidate must immediately inform the designated election official. Upon receiving notification, the designated election official shall cease review and shall consider the petition to have never been submitted.

Source: L. 92: Entire part R&RE, p. 690, § 7, effective January 1, 1993. L. 94: (1) and (3) amended, p. 1154, § 16, effective July 1. L. 95: (2) and (3) amended, p. 832, § 36, effective July 1; (3) amended, p. 886, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2011: (3) amended, (SB 11-189), ch. 243, p. 1064, § 11, effective May 27. L. 2012: (3) amended, (HB 12-1292), ch. 181, p. 681, § 15, effective May 17. L. 2017: (1.5) added, (HB 17-1088), ch. 398, p. 2076, § 1, effective August 9. L. 2019: (2.5) and (4) added, (HB 19-1278), ch. 326, p. 3018, § 23, effective August 2. L. 2024: (1.5)(b)(I) and (1.5)(b)(II) amended, (SB 24-210), ch. 468, p. 3246, § 12, effective June 6.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 1-4-603 (2) as it existed prior to 1992.

(2) Amendments to subsection (3) by House Bill 95-1022 and House Bill 95-1241 were harmonized.

Cross references: For the short title ("Colorado Votes Act") in HB 19-1278, see section 1 of chapter 326, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Colorado Election Law Update", see 46 Colo. Law. 53 (Aug.-Sept. 2017).