Colorado § 1-5-101 - Establishing precincts and polling places for partisan elections.

§ 1-5-101. Establishing precincts and polling places for partisan elections.

(1) Subject to approval by the board of county commissioners, the county clerk and recorder of each county shall divide the county into as many election precincts for all general, primary, and congressional vacancy elections as is convenient for the eligible electors of the county and shall designate the place for each precinct at which elections are to be held. In establishing boundaries, the board of county commissioners shall take into consideration natural and artificial boundaries that meet the requirements of the United States bureau of the census. The precincts shall be numbered in accordance with section 1-5-101.5. Changes in the precinct boundaries of a county shall be made only within the district boundaries of each representative and senatorial district.

(2) Repealed.

(3) (a) Every county clerk and recorder, subject to approval by the board of county commissioners, shall establish at least one precinct for every one thousand five hundred active eligible electors in the county at the time of the most recent federal decennial census. However, the county clerk and recorder, subject to approval by the board, may establish one precinct for every two thousand active eligible electors.

(b) The precincts established by the county clerk and recorder in subsection (3)(a) of this section need not be modified until the precincts have more than twice as many active eligible electors as they did at the time of the most recent federal decennial census, or when they were established by the county clerk and recorder, whichever is later.

(4) Repealed.

(5) Notwithstanding section 1-5-103, and except as otherwise required by federal law, in order to facilitate the preparation of a computerized database for use in the redistricting process that will take place after the decennial census in years ending in the number zero, the precinct boundaries established by the county clerk and recorder of each county, subject to approval by the board of county commissioners, that are used in the general election in years ending in the number eight shall remain in effect until after the general election in years ending in the number zero; except that the precincts so established may be subdivided within the boundaries of the original precinct and adjacent precincts may be aggregated for purposes of data collection. In establishing precinct boundaries pursuant to the provisions of this subsection (5), county clerk and recorders and boards of county commissioners shall, to the extent reasonably possible, utilize natural and man-made boundaries that meet the requirements for visible features adopted by the United States bureau of the census. If the precinct boundaries used in the general election in years ending in the number eight are changed prior to the next general election in years ending in the number zero pursuant to federal law, the county clerk and recorders shall timely submit in writing to the director of research of the legislative council a list showing the precincts for which the boundaries have changed.

(6) Repealed.

(7) In any county, the county clerk and recorder may alter the precinct boundaries when necessary to ensure that no precinct is located in more than one county commissioner district.

Source: L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 700, § 8, effective January 1, 1993. L. 95: Entire section amended, p. 835, § 45, effective July 1. L. 97: (5) added, p. 1056, § 2, effective May 27; (4) added, p. 5, § 1, effective August 6. L. 98: (6) added, p. 635, § 8, effective May 6. L. 99: (4) amended, p. 1389, § 7, effective June 4. L. 2000: (1) amended, p. 265, § 2, effective August 2. L. 2004: (4) repealed, p. 1104, § 2, effective May 27; (3) amended, p. 1343, § 4, effective May 28. L. 2007: (6) amended, p. 1778, § 12, effective June 1. L. 2008: (5) amended, p. 1743, § 4, effective July 1. L. 2013: (6) amended, (HB 13-1303), ch. 185, p. 703, § 29, effective May 10. L. 2021: (2) repealed, (3) amended, and (7) added, (HB 21-1047), ch. 70, p. 288, § 5, effective April 29.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 1-6-101 (1) as it existed prior to 1992.

(2) Subsection (6)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (6), effective July 1, 2015. (See L. 2013, p. 703.)

Cross references: (1) For transferring names of electors when precinct boundaries changed, see § 1-2-223; for the power of the board of county commissioners to form new precincts, change the names of precincts, or reduce the numbers of precincts, see § 30-11-114.

(2) For the legislative declaration contained in the 2004 act amending subsection (3), see section 1 of chapter 334, Session Laws of Colorado 2004. For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1047, see section 1 of chapter 70, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.

(3) In 2013, subsection (6) was amended by the "Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act". For the short title and the legislative declaration, see sections 1 and 2 of chapter 185, Session Laws of Colorado 2013.

ANNOTATION

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

Judicial notice taken of boundaries of election precincts. Courts take judicial notice of matters of common knowledge in the community where they sit, such as the boundaries of election precincts. Nat'l Optical Co. v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co., 77 Colo. 130, 235 P. 343 (1925); Antlers Athletic Ass'n v. Hartung, 85 Colo. 125, 274 P. 831 (1928); Israel v. Wood, 93 Colo. 500, 27 P.2d 1024 (1933).

And a court will take judicial notice of the fact that there has been a precinct established in a county, it not being material whether the precinct was established upon proper petition or by virtue of authority so to do under this section. Bd. of Comm'rs v. People ex rel. McPherson, 36 Colo. 246, 91 P. 36 (1906).

Whereupon a mandamus proceeding will be dismissed. When a court takes judicial notice that an election precinct has been established, a mandamus proceeding to compel the board of county commissioners to establish such precinct pending upon review in such court will be dismissed, there being no live question for determination. Bd. of Comm'rs v. People ex rel. McPherson, 36 Colo. 246, 91 P. 36 (1906).

Applied in Carstens v. Lamm, 543 F. Supp. 68 (D. Colo. 1982).