Colorado § 1-40-123 - Counting of votes - effective date - conflicting provisions.

§ 1-40-123. Counting of votes - effective date - conflicting provisions.

(1) The votes on all measures submitted to the people shall be counted and properly entered after the votes for candidates for office cast at the same election are counted and shall be counted, canvassed, and returned and the result determined and certified in the manner provided by law concerning other elections. The secretary of state who has certified the election shall, without delay, make and transmit to the governor a certificate of election. The measure takes effect from and after the date of the official declaration of the vote by proclamation of the governor, but not later than thirty days after the votes have been canvassed, as provided in section 1 of article V of the state constitution.

(2) A majority of the votes cast thereon adopts any measure submitted for a proposed law, and, in case of adoption of conflicting provisions, the one that receives the greatest number of affirmative votes prevails in all particulars as to which there is a conflict.

(3) At least fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon adopts any measure submitted for an amendment to the state constitution; except that a majority of the votes cast thereon adopts any measure submitted for an amendment to the state constitution that only repeals in whole or in part any provision of the state constitution. In the case of adoption of conflicting provisions, the one that receives the greatest number of affirmative votes prevails in all particulars as to which there is a conflict.

Source: L. 93: Entire article amended with relocations, p. 691, § 1, effective May 4. L. 95: Entire section amended, p. 436, § 17, effective May 8. L. 2017: Entire section amended, (SB 17-152), ch. 169, p. 620, § 7, effective August 9.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 1-40-113 as it existed prior to 1993.

ANNOTATION

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

This section enhances rather than limits the right of the people to amend the Colorado constitution. In re Interrogatories Propounded by Senate Concerning House Bill 1078, 189 Colo. 1, 536 P.2d 308 (1975).

Conflicting constitutional amendments. Amendment nos. 6 and 9, proposed constitutional amendments relating to reapportionment on the ballot at the general election held on November 5, 1974, are in conflict where the former, a housekeeping amendment, among many other things, provides that the general assembly is to establish district boundaries and that there is to be no more than a five percent population deviation from the mean in each district while the latter, dealing exclusively with reapportionment, provides for a commission to promulgate a plan of reapportionment which the supreme court either approves or, in effect, orders modified as required by the court and for a maximum five percent deviation between the most populous and the least populous district in each house. In re Interrogatories Propounded by Senate Concerning House Bill 1078, 189 Colo. 1, 536 P.2d 308 (1975).

One with most votes prevails. In order to carry out the meaning and purpose of § 1 of art. V, Colo. Const., the one of two inconsistent amendments which received the most votes must prevail. That, in the view of the supreme court, is what the "republican" form of government means with respect to the right of the people to amend the constitution. In re Interrogatories Propounded by Senate Concerning House Bill 1078, 189 Colo. 1, 536 P.2d 308 (1975).

It is the duty of the court, whenever possible, to give effect to the expression of the will of the people contained in constitutional amendments adopted by them. In re Interrogatories Propounded by the Senate Concerning House Bill 1078, 189 Colo. 1, 536 P.2d 308 (1975); Submission of Interrogatories on Senate Bill 93-74, 852 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1993).

When two constitutional amendments are simultaneously adopted, the court should not resort to rules that give effect to one provision at the expense of the other unless there is an irreconcilable, material, and direct conflict between the two amendments. Submission of Interrogatories on Senate Bill 93-74, 852 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1993).

When constitutional amendments enacted at the same election are in such irreconcilable conflict, the one which receives the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail in all particulars as to which there is a conflict. Submission of Interrogatories on Senate Bill 93-74, 852 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1993).

The test for the existence of a conflict is: Does one authorize what the other forbids or forbid what the other authorizes? Submission of Interrogatories on Senate Bill 93-74, 852 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1993).