(1)A presidential
primary election shall be held on a Tuesday on a date designated by the governor.
The date selected for the primary must be no earlier than the date the national
rules of the major political parties provide for state delegations to the party's
national convention to be allocated without penalty and not later than the third
Tuesday in March in years in which a United States Presidential Election will be
held. The governor shall, in consultation with the secretary of state, designate the
date of the presidential primary election no later than the first day of September in
the year before the presidential primary election will be held.
(2)(a) Except as provided for in subsection (5) of this section, each political
party that has a qualified candidate entitled to
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(1) A presidential
primary election shall be held on a Tuesday on a date designated by the governor.
The date selected for the primary must be no earlier than the date the national
rules of the major political parties provide for state delegations to the party's
national convention to be allocated without penalty and not later than the third
Tuesday in March in years in which a United States Presidential Election will be
held. The governor shall, in consultation with the secretary of state, designate the
date of the presidential primary election no later than the first day of September in
the year before the presidential primary election will be held.
(2) (a) Except as provided for in subsection (5) of this section, each political
party that has a qualified candidate entitled to participate in the presidential
primary election pursuant to this section is entitled to participate in the Colorado
presidential primary election. At the presidential primary election, an elector that is
affiliated with a political party may vote only for a candidate of that political party.
(b) An unaffiliated eligible elector may vote in a political party's presidential
primary election without affiliating with that party or may declare an affiliation with
a political party to the election judges at the presidential primary election in
accordance with section 1-7-201. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
elector affiliated with a major or minor political party or political organization may
change or withdraw his or her affiliation in order to vote in the presidential primary
election of another political party unless the elector has changed or withdrawn
such affiliation no later than the twenty-second day preceding the presidential
primary election as provided in section 1-2-219 (1).
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this part 12, a presidential primary
election must be conducted in the same manner as any other primary election to
the extent statutory provisions governing other primary elections are applicable to
this part 12. The election officers and county clerk and recorders have the same
powers and shall perform the same duties for presidential primary elections as they
provide by law for other primary elections and general elections.
(4) (a) A ballot used in a presidential primary election must only contain the
names of candidates for the office of the president of the United States of America.
The ballot shall not be used for the purpose of presenting any other issue or
question to the electorate unless expressly authorized by law.
(b) Each political party that is entitled to participate in the presidential
primary election shall have a separate party ballot for use by electors affiliated
with that political party.
(c) The county clerk and recorder shall send to all active electors in the
county who have not declared an affiliation with a political party a ballot packet
that contains the ballots of all the major political parties. In this ballot packet, the
clerk shall also provide written instructions advising the elector of the manner in
which the elector will be in compliance with the requirements of this code in
selecting and casting the ballot of a major political party. An elector may cast the
ballot of only one major political party. After selecting and casting a ballot of a
single major political party, the elector shall return the ballot to the clerk. If an
elector casts and returns to the clerk the ballot of more than one major political
party, all such ballots returned will be rejected and will not be counted.
(d) The secretary of state may by rule adopt additional ballot requirements
necessary to avoid voter confusion in voting in presidential primary elections.
(5) If, at the close of business on the sixtieth day before a presidential
primary election, every political party has no more than one candidate for president
affiliated with the political party who is certified to the presidential primary ballot
pursuant to section 1-4-1204 (1) or who has filed a write-in candidate statement of
intent pursuant to section 1-4-1205, the secretary of state may cancel the
presidential primary election for all political parties and declare the candidate for
each political party the winner of the presidential primary election for that political
party.
(6) The secretary of state may by rule adopt additional ballot requirements
necessary to avoid voter confusion in voting in presidential primary elections.
(7) Repealed.