Colorado § 1-3-106 - Control of party controversies.

§ 1-3-106. Control of party controversies.

(1) The state central committee of any political party in this state has full power to pass upon and determine all controversies concerning the regularity of the organization of that party within any congressional, judicial, senatorial, representative, or county commissioner district or within any county and also concerning the right to the use of the party name. The state central committee may make rules governing the method of passing upon and determining controversies as it deems best, unless the rules have been provided by the state convention of the party as provided in subsection (2) of this section. All determinations upon the part of the state central committee shall be final.

(2) From the time the state convention of the party convenes until the time of its final adjournment, the state convention has all the powers given by subsection (1) of this section to the state central committee, but not otherwise. The state convention of the party may also provide rules that shall govern the state central committee in the exercise of the powers conferred upon the committee in subsection (1) of this section.

Source: L. 80: Entire article R&RE, p. 320, § 1, effective January 1, 1981. L. 92: Entire article amended, p. 671, § 3, effective January 1, 1993.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 1-14-109 as it existed prior to 1980.

Cross references: For congressional districts, see section 44 of article V of the state constitution.

ANNOTATION

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

The power granted to the state central committee of a political party to determine party controversies is constitutional. This grant of power was not in violation of the former provisions concerning district court jurisdiction, now § 9 of art. VI, Colo. Const., on the grounds that it divests the district courts of jurisdiction in such causes and confers it upon another tribunal, as the district courts have no such jurisdiction in the absence of a statute conferring it. People ex rel. Lowry v. Dist. Court, 32 Colo. 15, 74 P. 896 (1903).

And the committee, or the state convention while in session, has exclusive jurisdiction to determine all controversies between factions of the same party as to which is the regular organization and entitled to the party name and to make and file nominations for office under the party name within any district, county, or city of the state. People ex rel. Lowry v. Dist. Court, 32 Colo. 15, 74 P. 896 (1903).

Factional disputes of subordinate divisions of a political party must be referred to the state central committee of that political party. People ex rel. Lowry v. Dist. Court, 32 Colo. 15, 74 P. 896 (1903).

And the courts have no jurisdiction in such factional and internal disputes between members of the same party although the committee may not have passed thereon. People ex rel. Lowry v. Dist. Court, 32 Colo. 15, 74 P. 896 (1903).

And prohibition lies to prevent court from taking further action. Where a district court is proceeding without jurisdiction to determine a factional dispute between members of the same political party, and the parties objecting to such proceeding have no speedy and adequate remedy at law, on petition to supreme court a writ of prohibition will issue to prevent the court from taking any further action in the matter except to dismiss the proceedings. People ex rel. Lowry v. Dist. Court, 32 Colo. 15, 74 P. 896 (1903).