Colorado § 31-4-502 - Procedure - petition - signatures.

§ 31-4-502. Procedure - petition - signatures.

(1) The procedure to effect the recall of an elective officer of a municipality shall be as follows:

(a) (I) A petition containing the requisite number of signatures under subsection (1)(d) of this section must be filed in the office of the municipal clerk, demanding an election of a successor to the officer named in the petition. Each petition must designate by name and address not less than three nor more than five persons, referred to in this section as the "committee", who shall represent the signers thereof in all matters affecting the petition. The person designated as a member of the committee must be a registered elector of the municipality. The petition shall clearly indicate the name of the municipality and the name of the officer sought to be recalled. The petition must include the name of only one person to be recalled. The petition must contain a general statement, of not more than two hundred words, of the grounds on which the recall is sought, which statement is intended for the information of the electors of the municipality. The electors are the sole and exclusive judges of the legality, reasonableness, and sufficiency of the grounds assigned for recall, and the grounds are not open to review.

(II) The signatures to a recall petition need not all be on one sheet of paper. At the top of each page shall be printed, in bold-faced type, the following:

WARNING:

IT IS AGAINST THE LAW:

For anyone to sign this petition with any name other than one's own or to knowingly sign one's name more than once for the same measure or to sign such petition when not a registered elector.

Do not sign this petition unless you are a registered elector. To be a registered elector, you must be a citizen of Colorado and registered to vote in (name of municipality).

Do not sign this petition unless you have read or have had read to you the proposed measure in its entirety and understand its meaning.

(b) Directly following the warning in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) shall be printed in bold-faced type the following:

Petition to recall (name of person sought to be recalled) from the office of (title of office).

(c) A recall petition shall not be circulated until it has been approved as meeting the requirements of this section as to form. The clerk shall approve or disapprove a petition as to form no later than the close of the second business day following submission of the proposed petition. The clerk shall mail or transmit electronically written notice of the clerk's action to the officer sought to be recalled on the day that any such petition is approved.

(d) A recall petition must be signed by registered electors entitled to vote for a successor of the incumbent sought to be recalled equal in number to twenty-five percent of the entire vote cast for all candidates for that particular office at the last preceding regular election held in the municipality. If the person sought to be recalled holds an office that more than one person is required by law to fill, then the recall petition shall be signed by registered electors entitled to vote for a successor to the incumbent sought to be recalled equal in number to twenty-five percent of the entire vote cast at the last preceding regular election held in the municipality for all candidates for the office, divided by the number of all officers elected to such office at the last preceding regular election held in the municipality even if the person sought to be recalled was elected at a different election.

Source: L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1036, § 1, effective July 1. L. 81: (1)(a) amended, p. 1509, § 37, effective July 1. L. 85: (1)(a) to (1)(c) amended, p. 1349, § 21, effective April 30. L. 91: Entire section amended, p. 747, § 19, effective April 4. L. 2023: (1)(a)(I), (1)(c), and (1)(d) amended, (HB 23-1185), ch. 87, p. 310, § 6, effective August 7.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 31-5-202 as it existed prior to 1975.

ANNOTATION

The plain meaning of the provision of this section requiring that a warning appear "at the top of each page" of a recall petition is that the warning language must be printed at the top of each page upon which a person might sign his or her name. Mirandette v. Pugh, 934 P.2d 883 (Colo. App. 1997).

Requirement of subsection (1)(a)(I) that recall petition contain a demand for the election of a successor to the officer to be recalled applicable to recall petitions in municipality at issue under express terms of city charter incorporating this statutory provision. Accordingly, trial court erred when it concluded that this requirement not applicable to recall petition affecting municipal official. Combs v. Nowak, 43 P.3d 743 (Colo. App. 2002).