Colorado § 31-10-1601 - Legislative declaration - intent.

§ 31-10-1601. Legislative declaration - intent.

(1) The general assembly finds and declares that:

(a) Congress enacted the language minority provisions of the federal "Voting Rights Act of 1965" because "through the use of various practices and procedures, citizens of language minorities have been effectively excluded from participation in the electoral process...";

(b) Based on the 2023 five-year estimates specified in the United States bureau of the census American community survey, there are one hundred twenty-three thousand six hundred fifty-seven eligible electors in Colorado who speak English "less than very well". As of the 2024 general election, an estimated one hundred five thousand four hundred eighty-four of those eligible electors live within a county that is covered by the multilingual ballot requirements of House Bill 21-1011, enacted in 2021. Out of an estimated one hundred thirty-one municipalities that exist wholly or partially in a covered county, an estimated fifty-eight municipalities coordinate their elections with the county and electors receive multilingual ballot access. The estimated remaining seventy-three municipalities hold elections independently and the ability for electors to access minority language ballots is contingent on the municipality independently offering these resources.

(c) By passing House Bill 21-1011, the general assembly expanded minority language ballot access beyond federal requirements to cover additional counties and declared that ensuring Colorado citizens have access to minority language ballots is a matter of statewide concern;

(d) For electors in counties covered by the requirements of House Bill 21-1011, however, the ability to vote with a minority language ballot in a municipal election is contingent on whether the municipality aligns its election with a county, unless the municipality independently offers access to a minority language ballot, and electors should not be denied access to a minority language ballot that they would otherwise have access to; and

(e) Colorado again has an opportunity to make the ballot accessible to more eligible electors and provide them with meaningful access by expanding minority language ballot access beyond federal requirements and those enacted in House Bill 21-1011.

(2) The general assembly further finds and declares that the intent of this part 16 is to:

(a) Ensure minority language ballot access for electors in municipalities that are wholly or partially in counties covered by the requirements of House Bill 21-1011; and

(b) Expand minority language ballot access without changing or reducing the existing responsibilities pursuant to section 203 of the "Voting Rights Act of 1965" and part 9 of article 5 of title 1.

Source: L. 2025: Entire part added, (SB 25-001), ch. 178, p. 760, § 14, effective August 6.