Colorado § 1-2-101 - Qualifications for registration - preregistration.

§ 1-2-101. Qualifications for registration - preregistration.

(1) Every person who is eighteen years of age or older on the date of the next election and who has the following qualifications is entitled to register to vote at all elections:

(a) The person is a citizen of the United States; and

(b) The person has resided in this state twenty-two days immediately prior to the election at which the person intends to vote.

(2) (a) (I) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, upon satisfactory proof of age, every person who is otherwise qualified to register and is fifteen years of age or older but will not have reached eighteen years of age by the date of the next election may preregister and update the person's preregistered information by any means authorized in this article for persons eighteen years of age or older. Upon reaching eighteen years of age, the person is automatically registered.

(II) Repealed.

(b) The registration requirements of section 1-2-201 apply to a person preregistering to vote under this subsection (2).

(c) A person preregistered under this subsection (2) who is seventeen years of age on the date of a primary election or presidential primary election and who will be eighteen years of age on the date of the next general election is entitled to vote in the primary election or presidential primary election.

(3) Repealed.

Source: L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 636, § 2, effective January 1, 1993. L. 93: (1)(b) amended, p. 1397, § 13, effective July 1. L. 94: (1)(b) amended, p. 1751, § 4, effective January 1, 1995. L. 95: (1)(b) amended, p. 821, § 5, effective July 1. L. 96: (1)(b) amended, p. 1734, § 7, effective July 1. L. 2013: (1)(b) amended, (HB 13-1303), ch. 185, p. 687, § 6, effective May 10; (2) added, (HB 13-1135), ch. 184, p. 677, § 1, effective August 7. L. 2018: (3) added, (SB 18-150), ch. 261, p. 1600, § 1, effective July 1, 2019. L. 2019: (3) repealed, (HB 19-1266), ch. 283, p. 2644, § 5, effective July 1; (2)(c) added, (HB 19-1278), ch. 326, p. 3005, § 3, effective August 2. L. 2024: (2)(a)(I) amended, (SB 24-210), ch. 468, p. 3241, § 2, effective January 1, 2025.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 1-2-101 as it existed prior to 1992.

(2) Subsection (2)(a)(II)(B) provided for the repeal of subsection (2)(a)(II), effective July 1, 2014. (See L. 2013, p. 677.)

Cross references: (1) For qualifications of electors, see also § 1 of art. VII, Colo. Const.; for voting age for electors, see § 1 of art. VII, Colo. Const., and article XXVI of the Constitution of the United States; for registration of citizens residing outside the United States, see article 8.3 of this title; for offenses relating to unlawful qualification as a taxpaying elector, see § 1-13-202.

(2) In 2013, subsection (1)(b) 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.

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

(4) For the legislative declaration in HB 19-1266, see section 1 of chapter 283, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.

ANNOTATION

I. General Consideration.

II. Residency.

I. GENERAL CONSIDERATION.

Law reviews. For comment on Porter v. Johnson appearing below, see 2 Rocky Mt. L. Rev. 131 (1930).

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

The state has the power to prescribe reasonable and nondiscriminatory qualifications for voting in federal as well as state elections. Hall v. Beals, 292 F. Supp. 610 (D. Colo. 1968), vacated as moot, 396 U.S. 45 (1969).

And requirements as to the qualifications of electors are mandatory, and must be strictly observed. Jain v. Bossen, 27 Colo. 423, 62 P. 194 (1900); People v. Turpin, 49 Colo. 234, 112 P. 539 (1910); City of Montrose v. Niles, 124 Colo. 535, 238 P.2d 875 (1951).

This section provides the necessary qualifications for a voter and elector. Cox v. Starkweather, 128 Colo. 89, 260 P.2d 587 (1953).

After an elector demonstrates those qualifications, the election code directs that he "shall" be registered and permitted to vote. Sheldon v. Moffat Tunnel Comm'n, 335 F. Supp. 251 (D. Colo. 1971).

Unsworn declarations of a voter are inadmissible to impeach his qualifications as an elector, Sharp v. McIntire, 23 Colo. 99, 46 P. 115 (1896).

However, when such declarations are made prior or subsequent to the time of voting they are admissible to impeach the voter's qualifications when made concurrently with the act of voting in the presence of the judges of the election. Sharp v. McIntire, 23 Colo. 99, 46 P. 115 (1896).

Statutes prohibiting permanent resident aliens from voting in school elections, which incorporate the substantive and procedural requirements concerning general elections into school elections, are constitutional. Skafte v. Rorex, 191 Colo. 399, 553 P.2d 830 (1976).

Applied in Hesseltine v. United States, 538 F. Supp. 1003 (D. Colo. 1982).

II. RESIDENCY.

An essential qualification of a voter is that he shall have resided in the state, county, and ward or precinct for the required time immediately preceding the election at which he offers to vote. Sharp v. McIntire, 23 Colo. 99, 46 P. 115 (1896).

The state may require its voters to be residents. Jarmel v. Putnam, 179 Colo. 215, 499 P.2d 603 (1972).

The purposes of residency requirements are: (1) To preserve the purity of elections, and (2) To prevent the control of state affairs by persons who have no pecuniary interest in them. Hall v. Beals, 292 F. Supp. 610 (D. Colo. 1968), vacated as moot, 396 U.S. 45 (1969).

Thus the status of transient is not that of residency. Jarmel v. Putnam, 179 Colo. 215, 499 P.2d 603 (1972).

As some time limit must be set for determining who is and who is not a resident for the purposes of voting, not only to preserve the purity of the election, but also for administrative reasons. Hall v. Beals, 292 F. Supp. 610 (D. Colo. 1968), vacated as moot, 396 U.S. 45 (1969).

Moreover, a federal court cannot substitute personal views of what time limit would accomplish the objectives of a residency requirement for the judgment of the Colorado general assembly in the absence of a showing of unreasonable discrimination. Hall v. Beals, 292 F. Supp. 610 (D. Colo. 1968), vacated as moot, 396 U.S. 45 (1969).

But previous section's requirement of three months durational residency as condition of right to vote held unconstitutional. Jarmel v. Putnam, 179 Colo. 215, 499 P.2d 603 (1972).

Test of residency after elector moves from precinct. The following inquiry is required to be undertaken if an elector has moved outside the boundaries of his voting precinct and wishes to retain his right to vote within the precinct: (1) Had the elector established his principal or primary home or place of abode within the election precinct? and (2) was the individual's departure taken or does his absence continue with a present intention of returning to the precinct in the future? Gordon v. Blackburn, 618 P.2d 668 (Colo. 1980).

Intent to keep legal residence central factor. Once a person's legal residence has been established, his intent to keep it becomes the central factor in determining whether it continues. Gordon v. Blackburn, 618 P.2d 668 (Colo. 1980).

But mere intention without other indicia not enough. The mere intention to return to a former abode at some more or less indefinite time, with no other indicia of a home or domicile, may not fulfill the usual requirements of legal residence for voting purposes. Gordon v. Blackburn, 618 P.2d 668 (Colo. 1980).

Evidence supported conclusion that school teachers had moved to the town with intention of establishing permanent residence. Porter v. Johnson, 85 Colo. 440, 276 P. 333 (1929).