Colorado § 1-2-202 - Registration by county clerk and recorder.

§ 1-2-202. Registration by county clerk and recorder.

(1) The county clerk and recorder shall register any eligible elector residing in any precinct in the state of Colorado who appears in person at any office regularly maintained by the county clerk and recorder and staffed by regular employees at any time. If the elector resides in a county other than where he or she is registering, the registration shall be forwarded to the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the elector resides.

(2) Each municipal clerk shall serve as a deputy registrar. The municipal clerk shall register any eligible elector who appears in person at the municipal clerk's primary office at any time during which registration is permitted in the office of the county clerk and recorder. The municipal clerk shall deliver the new registration records to the office of the county clerk and recorder either in person or by mail no later than the tenth day of each month for the month immediately prior and in person on the day following the last day for registration preceding any election for which registration is required.

(3) (Deleted by amendment, L. 94, p. 1753, § 8, effective January 1, 1995.)

(4) If the county clerk and recorder finds that a precinct is composed of three percent or more non-English-speaking eligible electors, the county clerk and recorder shall take affirmative action to recruit full-time or part-time staff members who are fluent in the language used by the eligible electors and in English. The action shall be conducted through voluntarily donated public service notices in the media, including newspapers, radio, and television, particularly those media which serve those non-English-speaking persons.

(5) Repealed.

(6) (Deleted by amendment, L. 97, p. 471, § 3, effective July 1, 1997.)

(7) Registration records for any election shall include all those electors who have registered up to and including election day.

Source: L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 639, § 2, effective January 1, 1993. L. 93: (2) amended, p. 1397, § 14, effective July 1. L. 94: (1) amended, p. 1151, § 6, effective July 1; (1), (2), (3), and (7) amended, p. 1753, § 8, effective January 1, 1995. L. 95: (1), (2), and (7) amended, p. 821, § 7, effective July 1. L. 97: (1), (2), (6), and (7) amended, p. 471, § 3, effective July 1. L. 99: (2) amended, p. 757, § 5, effective May 20. L. 2010: (5) repealed, (HB 10-1116), ch. 194, p. 829, § 1, effective May 5. L. 2013: (7) amended, (HB 13-1303), ch. 185, p. 688, § 9, effective May 10.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 1-2-202 as it existed prior to 1992.

(2) Amendments to subsection (1) by House Bill 94-1286 and House Bill 94-1294 were harmonized.

Cross references: (1) For verification of registration sheets and admissibility thereof in evidence in criminal proceedings for election offenses, see §§ 1-2-205 (4) and 1-13-207; for questions answered and oath taken by the elector, see §§ 1-2-204 and 1-2-205.

(2) In 2013, subsection (7) 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

I. General Consideration.

II. Registering Qualified Elector.

III. Registering Family Member.

I. GENERAL CONSIDERATION.

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

II. REGISTERING QUALIFIED ELECTOR.

The entire purpose of the election law, insofar as it relates to the subject of registration, is to render it impossible to prevent registration on account of political affiliations or preferences. People ex rel. Smith v. Dist. Court, 33 Colo. 22, 78 P. 679 (1904).

Person complying with section is entitled to have name upon registration list. People ex rel. Smith v. Dist. Court, 33 Colo. 22, 78 P. 679 (1904).

And in such instances there is no power to prevent the registration. See People ex rel. Smith v. Dist. Court, 33 Colo. 22, 78 P. 679 (1904).

Nor strike the name from the registration list. See People ex rel. Smith v. Dist. Court, 33 Colo. 16, 78 P. 684 (1904).

However, registration lists are only prima facie evidence that the persons whose names appear thereon are legally qualified to vote, and so, when they present themselves at the polls, they may be challenged. People ex rel. Smith v. Dist. Court, 33 Colo. 22, 78 P. 679 (1904).

Closing registration books 32nd day before election is constitutional. Since the state is entitled to a reasonable time to complete whatever administrative tasks are necessary to prevent fraud, the requirement that registration books be closed after the 32nd day before an election is constitutionally valid. Jarmel v. Putnam, 179 Colo. 215, 499 P.2d 603 (1972) (decided prior to 1992 repeal and reenactment of this article).

But county clerks must register any persons otherwise qualified as electors who are or will be residents of the state for 32 days on the date of the election for which they seek to register. Jarmel v. Putnam, 179 Colo. 215, 499 P.2d 603 (1972) (decided prior to 1992 repeal and reenactment of this article).

III. REGISTERING FAMILY MEMBER.

Where individuals are members of a religious order, then, even though they live together in a community, such a community within the meaning of this section is not such a family as to make registration valid. Goss v. Klipfel, 112 Colo. 87, 146 P.2d 217 (1944).