Colorado § 1-7-507 - Electronic vote-counting - procedure.

§ 1-7-507. Electronic vote-counting - procedure.

(1) All proceedings at the counting centers shall be under the direction of the designated election official and the representatives of the political parties, if a partisan election, or watchers, if a nonpartisan election. No persons, except those authorized for the purpose, shall touch any ballot, ballot card, "prom" or other electronic device, or return.

(2) All persons who are engaged in the processing and counting of the ballots or recorded precinct votes shall be deputized in writing and take an oath that they will faithfully perform their assigned duties.

(3) The return printed by the electronic vote-tabulating equipment, to which have been added write-in votes, shall, when certified by the designated election official, constitute the official return of each precinct. The designated election official may, from time to time, release unofficial returns. Upon completion of the count, the official returns shall be open to the public.

(4) and (5) Repealed.

(6) If a software or hardware malfunction, or other significant issue, makes it impracticable to count all or a part of the ballots with electronic vote-tabulating equipment, the secretary of state, after consultation with the designated election official, may permit the designated election official to direct that such ballots be counted manually, following as far as practicable the provisions governing the counting of paper ballots as provided in section 1-7-307.

(7) The receiving, opening, and preservation of the transfer boxes and their contents shall be the responsibility of the designated election official, who shall provide adequate personnel and facilities to assure accurate and complete election results. Any indication of tampering with the ballots, ballot card, or other fraudulent action shall be immediately reported to the district attorney, who shall immediately investigate the action and report the findings in writing within ten days to the designated election official and shall prosecute to the full extent of the law any person or persons responsible for the fraudulent action.

(8) Repealed. / (Deleted by amendment, L. 2004, p. 1359, § 21, effective January 1, 2006.)

Source: L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 748, § 9, effective January 1, 1993. L. 2004: (7) and (8) amended and (8) repealed, pp. 1359, 1361, 1213, §§ 21, 30, 31, 108, effective January 1, 2006. L. 2007: (4) amended, p. 1779, § 16, effective June 1. L. 2013: (5) amended and (4) repealed, (HB 13-1303), ch. 185, p. 723, § 75, effective May 10. L. 2022: (6) amended, (SB 22-153), ch. 322, p. 2281, § 12, effective June 2. L. 2024: (5) repealed, (SB 24-210), ch. 468, p. 3253, § 34, effective June 6. L. 2026: (6) amended, (HB 26-1113), ch. 267, p. 1507, § 49, effective June 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 1-7-507 as it existed prior to 1992.

Cross references: (1) For counting procedure for paper ballots, see § 1-7-307.

(2) For the legislative declaration contained in the 2004 act amending subsections (7) and (8) and repealing subsection (8), see section 1 of chapter 334, Session Laws of Colorado 2004.

(3) In 2013, subsection (5) was amended and subsection (4) was repealed 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.

(4) For the short title ("Colorado Election Security Act") and the legislative declaration in SB 22-153, see sections 1 and 2 of chapter 322, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.