Colorado § 31-10-1301 - Who may contest - causes.

§ 31-10-1301. Who may contest - causes.

(1) The election of any person declared duly elected to any municipal office may be contested by any registered elector of such municipality:

(a) When the contestee is not eligible for the office to which he has been declared elected;

(b) When illegal votes have been received or legal votes rejected at the polls in sufficient numbers to change the results;

(c) For any error or mistake on the part of any of the judges of election or the clerk and his assistant in counting or declaring the result of the election if the error or mistake would be sufficient to change the result;

(d) For malconduct, fraud, or corruption on the part of the judges of election in any precinct or any clerk or his assistant if the malconduct, fraud, or corruption would be sufficient to change the result;

(e) For any other cause which shows that another was the legally elected person.

Source: L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1067, § 1, effective July 1. L. 87: IP(1) amended, p. 331, § 94, effective July 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 31-10-1101 as it existed prior to 1975.

ANNOTATION

Subsection (1)(b) requires the contestor to prove for whom the illegal votes were cast, but the contestor cannot compel the testimony of the ineligible voters. Mahaffey v. Barnhill, 855 P.2d 847 (Colo. 1993).

Illegal votes have been received in sufficient numbers to change the results of an election when the number meets or exceeds the margin of victory. Mahaffey v. Barnhill, 855 P.2d 847 (Colo. 1993).

Applied in Jones v. Samora, 2014 CO 4M, 318 P.3d 462.