Colorado § 1-7.5-210 - Maintenance of mail ballot election voting records - transmittal of such records to secretary of state.

§ 1-7.5-210. Maintenance of mail ballot election voting records - transmittal of such records to secretary of state.

The county clerk and recorder or designated election official shall maintain a record identifying the name and voting address of each elector who casts a ballot by mail or at a voter service and polling center at any election.

Source: L. 2013: Entire part added, (HB 13-1303), ch. 185, p. 741, § 92, effective May 10.

ARTICLE 8

Mail-in and Early Voting

1-8-101 to 1-8-311. (Repealed)

Source: L. 2014: Entire article repealed, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 77, § 51, effective February 18.

Editor's note: This article was numbered as article 14 of chapter 49, C.R.S. 1963. For amendments to this article prior to its repeal in 2014, consult the 2013 Colorado Revised Statutes and the Colorado statutory research explanatory note beginning on page vii in the front of this volume.

Cross references: For current provisions relating to mail ballots and early voting in nonpartisan local government elections not conducted by county clerk and recorders, see article 13.5 of this title.

1-8.3 ARTICLE 8.3

Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act

1-8.3-101. Short title.

1-8.3-102. Definitions.

1-8.3-103. Elections covered.

1-8.3-104. Role of secretary of state.

1-8.3-105. Effect of "Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act" - emergency authority of secretary of state.

1-8.3-106. Overseas voter's registration address.

1-8.3-107. Methods of registering to vote.

1-8.3-108. Methods of applying for ballot - definition.

1-8.3-109. Timeliness of application for ballot.

1-8.3-110. Transmission of unvoted ballots.

1-8.3-111. Timely casting of ballot.

1-8.3-112. Federal write-in absentee ballot.

1-8.3-113. Transmission and receipt of ballot.

1-8.3-114. Declaration.

1-8.3-115. Use of covered voter's electronic-mail address.

1-8.3-116. Publication of election notice.

1-8.3-117. Covered voter may file complaint.

1-8.3-118. Uniformity of application and construction.

1-8.3-119. Relation to electronic signatures in global and national commerce act.

PREFATORY NOTE

Over five million military personnel and overseas civilians face a variety of legal and logistical obstacles to participating in American elections. These problems persist notwithstanding repeated congressional efforts, as well as various state efforts, to facilitate these voters' ability to vote, most prominently the enactment of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 (UOCAVA), and its amendment with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act of 2009 (MOVE). The obstacles include: difficulties in registering to vote from abroad; ballots or ballot applications that never arrive; frequent changes of address; slow mail delivery times to and from overseas citizens, especially military personnel; failures to complete absentee voting materials properly, including noncompliance with notarization or verification requirements that can be difficult to meet abroad; and difficulties in obtaining information about issues and candidates.

Data from the 2006 federal midterm election provide dramatic evidence of the problems that these voters have recently faced. In 2006 U.S. military personnel were slightly more likely to have registered to vote than the general U.S. population (87% vs. 83%), yet the voter participation rate among the military was about half that of the general population (roughly 20% vs. roughly 40%). Furthermore, only 25% of overseas and military voters who requested an absentee ballot in 2006 completed and returned one, compared to 85% of all voters who requested an absentee ballot. Meanwhile, more than one in five ballots cast by military service members was rejected.

Although some of these figures improved during the high-interest 2008 presidential election, the overall picture remains troubling. In 2008, roughly two-thirds of those overseas and military voters who requested a ballot returned it, and the rejection rate for those ballots dropped to under one in fifteen ballots. Yet both of these rates remain substantially worse than the comparable 2008 rates for absentee voters generally (which were a return rate of over 90%, and a ballot rejection rate of 1.7%). Meanwhile, according to data collected by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, fewer than 700,000 absentee ballots were returned by military and overseas voters in 2008. This figure is not much different from the comparable figure for the 2006 federal midterm elections, meaning that the voter participation rate among these voters remained well below 20%, despite the fact that among voters generally the 2008 election produced an overall voter participation rate of over 61%, the largest in four decades. Without additional reforms to the voting processes for military and overseas voters, their ability to participate in American elections likely will continue to suffer.

Strong popular support exists among the American public to make voting much easier and more reliable for these voters than it has been. A 2008 public opinion survey conducted for the Pew Center on the States found "strong universal support . . . across age, regional, and party lines" for the idea that military and overseas voters should be able to participate in elections "back home." A variety of stakeholders who participated in the ULC drafting process for this act were overwhelmingly of a similar disposition.

In important part, the obstacles that overseas and military voters face can be traced to the fact that American elections are conducted at the state and local levels under procedures that often vary dramatically by jurisdiction. This lack of uniformity complicates any federal effort, such as the UOCAVA, to assist these voters to surmount the other major obstacles that they face. For instance, while some states permit overseas absentee ballots to arrive up to ten days after Election Day, other states require that all absentee ballots, including those from overseas, be received by Election Day. Meanwhile, some states permit overseas and military voters to request, and in a smaller number of cases also to cast, an absentee ballot electronically, but other states require transmission by regular mail. Some states require a notary or other witness to vouch for the absentee voter's execution of the absentee ballot affirmation. These and other variations across states both complicate the procedures developed under the UOCAVA to help overseas and military voters, and make it difficult for consular officials, the U.S. military, and non-governmental voting assistance groups to give standard advice to these voters.

In confronting these problems, this act has two independent purposes that can only be achieved through uniform state legislation. The first is to extend to state elections the assistance and protections for military and overseas voters currently found in federal law, which covers only biennial federal elections. The second is to bring greater uniformity to the military and overseas voting processes, which the several states will continue to have primary responsibility for administering, in both federal and non-federal elections. In addition to these two primary purposes, many provisions of the act also enhance the assistance and protections provided to military and overseas voters, wherever this can be done without compromising the integrity of the voting process or imposing inappropriately on election officials.

Critical to both enhancing and bringing uniformity to the voting process for military and overseas voters is establishing adequate time for this group of voters to request, receive, and return a ballot. Directly related to the amount of time needed to accomplish these voting processes is the extent to which electronic transmission mechanisms are employed. The act requires that electronic transmission methods be available for purposes of requesting and receiving unvoted ballots, but does not require the use of electronic means for transmitting voted ballots. This is because no consensus yet exists on the question of whether and how electronic voting can occur securely and privately. However, using electronic transmission methods for just those steps in the absentee voting process prior to the casting of a ballot (such as registering to vote, requesting an absentee ballot, and receiving a blank ballot) can alone dramatically reduce the time required to permit these voters to vote successfully.

Without uniform state legislation, military and overseas voters will continue to confront a panoply of diverging voting requirements, notwithstanding the important role that UOCAVA has played in facilitating military and overseas voting in federal elections for more than two decades, and the additional enhancements that the MOVE Act of 2009 provides. Accordingly, this act should be widely adopted both to simplify the voting process for these voters, and to extend similar protections to state elections not covered by existing federal law.