Colorado § 32-1-909 - Recall petition - designated election official - approval as to form.

§ 32-1-909. Recall petition - designated election official - approval as to form.

(1) A recall petition shall not be circulated until it has been approved as meeting the requirements of this section as to form.

(2) A request to appoint a designated election official for a recall of a special district director must be filed with the court as defined in section 32-1-103 (2) for the special district. Within five business days of receipt of a request to appoint a designated election official of a recall petition for a special district director, the court shall issue an order appointing a designated election official who shall perform the duties set forth for the recall. The designated election official shall not be the director sought to be recalled by the petition or the spouse or civil union partner of the director sought to be recalled by the petition. If the court appoints a county clerk and recorder as the designated election official, then, notwithstanding any contrary provision in this code, the recall must be conducted in accordance with article 12 of title 1; except that sections 32-1-906, 32-1-907, 32-1-909 (4) to (6), 32-1-910 (2)(c), 32-1-911 (3)(b), (3)(c), and (4), and 32-1-912 still apply regardless of who is appointed the designated election official.

(3) The designated election official shall approve or disapprove a petition as to form by the close of the third business day following his or her appointment as the designated election official. On the day that the petition is approved or disapproved as to form, the designated election official shall mail or transmit electronically written notice of the approval or disapproval to the committee, the board of directors of the special district, and the director sought to be recalled. If the designated election official disapproves the petition as to form, the designated election official shall identify in the written notice the portion or portions of the petition that are not sufficient and the reasons they are not sufficient.

(4) Each petition must:

(a) Designate by name and address at least three, but not more than five, eligible electors of the special district who represent the signers thereof in all matters affecting the petition;

(b) Include the name of only one director to be recalled; and

(c) Contain a general statement, in 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 special district. The statement must not include any profane or false statement. The electors of the special district are the sole and exclusive judges of the legality, reasonableness, and sufficiency of the grounds on which the recall is sought, and said grounds are not subject to a protest or to judicial review.

(5) The signatures to a recall petition need not all be on one sheet of paper. At the top of each signature page of the petition must 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 own name more than once for the same measure or to sign such petition when not an eligible elector.

Do not sign this petition unless you are an eligible elector. To be an eligible elector, you must be registered to vote in Colorado and be either a resident of the (name of special district), or be the owner or spouse or civil union partner of an owner of taxable real or personal property in the (name of special district) as described in section 32-1-103 (5) of the Colorado Revised Statutes.

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.

(6) Directly following the warning required by subsection (5) of this section must be printed in bold-faced type the following:

Petition to recall (name of director sought to be recalled) from the office of director of the (name of special district).

Source: L. 2018: Entire section added, (HB 18-1268), ch. 200, p. 1298, § 3, effective May 4. L. 2021: (2) amended, (SB 21-250), ch. 282, p. 1672, § 81, effective June 21. L. 2025: (3) and (4)(a) amended, (SB 25-275), ch. 377, p. 2094, § 278, effective August 6.