(1)The general assembly hereby finds,
determines, and declares that:
(a)The Help America Vote Act of 2002, Pub.L. 107-252, was passed by the
United States congress and signed into law by president George W. Bush on
October 29, 2002.
(b)HAVA resulted from a national consensus that the nation's electoral
system needs improvements to ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity
to vote, that every vote that should be counted will be counted, and that no legal
vote will be canceled by a fraudulent vote.
(c)HAVA clearly defines the rights and privileges of those eligible
individuals who seek to vote, including all overseas and military service voters, and
seeks to prevent disenfranchisement resulting from mistaken determinations of
ineligibility to vote, the use of outda
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(1) The general assembly hereby finds,
determines, and declares that:
(a) The Help America Vote Act of 2002, Pub.L. 107-252, was passed by the
United States congress and signed into law by president George W. Bush on
October 29, 2002.
(b) HAVA resulted from a national consensus that the nation's electoral
system needs improvements to ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity
to vote, that every vote that should be counted will be counted, and that no legal
vote will be canceled by a fraudulent vote.
(c) HAVA clearly defines the rights and privileges of those eligible
individuals who seek to vote, including all overseas and military service voters, and
seeks to prevent disenfranchisement resulting from mistaken determinations of
ineligibility to vote, the use of outdated voting systems that are unreliable or
insufficiently accessible for disabled voters, or unnecessary administrative
obstacles.
(d) To achieve these purposes, HAVA authorizes significant amounts of
federal financial assistance to the states to finance the purchase of more reliable
voting systems and mandates changes in the conduct of federal elections in all
states for the purposes of ensuring greater access to the polls by individuals with
disabilities, providing more information to individuals who wish to vote, improving
the training of poll workers, and reducing the possibility of fraud in the electoral
process.
(e) As a condition of the receipt of certain funds from the federal
government under HAVA, section 253 (b)(5) of HAVA requires the states to
appropriate funds for carrying out the activities for which such payments are made
in an amount equal to five percent of the total amount to be spent for such
activities.
(f) HAVA empowers the United States department of justice to bring civil
actions seeking such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry
out uniform and nondiscriminatory election technology and administration
requirements. Accordingly, failure to satisfy the requirements of HAVA may subject
election laws and procedures of this state to stringent review and approval by the
United States department of justice.
(g) In order that its requirements may be effectively and uniformly
implemented, HAVA mandates a greater role for the state governments and, in
particular, the chief election official of each state, in overseeing and coordinating
elections and in enforcing and implementing uniform standards in elections.
(h) In Colorado, the secretary of state is the chief state election official and,
in that capacity, is charged by HAVA and existing state statutory provisions with
responsibility for supervising the conduct of elections and for enforcing and
implementing the provisions of HAVA and of this code.
(2) Now, therefore, by enacting this article, the general assembly intends to:
(a) Begin the process of implementing the changes in this code that are
required by HAVA;
(b) Ensure the timely fulfillment by the state of all requirements for
eligibility under HAVA to be able to receive appropriated federal funds under
HAVA; and
(c) Provide the secretary of state with sufficient authority to ensure that the
state of Colorado is fully compliant with all requirements imposed upon it pursuant
to HAVA.
(3) The general assembly further intends that this article be liberally
construed to effectuate its purposes as expressed in this section.