§ 1-4-1204 — Names on ballots

Colorado § 1-4-1204

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 01: Elections
• Art.: Elections - Access to Ballot by Candidates

Text

(1) Not later than sixty days before the
presidential primary election, the secretary of state shall certify the names and
party affiliations of the candidates to be placed on any presidential primary election
ballots. The only candidates whose names shall be placed on ballots for the
election shall be those candidates who:

(a) Repealed.

(b) Are seeking the nomination for president of a political party as a bona
fide candidate for president of the United States pursuant to political party rules
and are affiliated with a major political party that received at least twenty percent
of the votes cast by eligible electors in Colorado at the last presidential election;
and

(c) Have submitted to the secretary, not later than eighty-five days before
the date of the presidential primary election, a notarized candidate's statement of
intent together with either a nonrefundable filing fee of five hundred dollars or a
petition signed by at least five thousand eligible electors affiliated with the
candidate's political party who reside in the state. Candidate petitions must meet
the requirements of parts 8 and 9 of this article 4, as applicable.

(1.5) No later than the sixty-fifth day before the presidential primary
election, a person whose name has been qualified to be placed on the ballot may
file with the secretary of state an affidavit stating that the person is not a candidate
for the office of the president of the United States and requesting that the person's
name not be included in the list of names certified by the secretary of state in
accordance with subsection (1) of this section. The secretary of state shall not
include in the list the name of a person who timely files an affidavit.

(2) The names of candidates appearing on any presidential primary ballot
must be in an order determined by lot. The secretary of state shall determine the
method of drawing lots.

(3) Except as otherwise prohibited by political party rules, the state
chairperson of a political party may request the secretary to provide a place on the
primary ballot for electors who have no presidential candidate preference to
register a vote to send a noncommitted delegate to the political party's national
convention. To be valid, this request must be received by the secretary of state no
later than seventy days before the presidential primary election.

(4) Any challenge to the listing of any candidate on the presidential primary
election ballot must be made in writing and filed with the district court in
accordance with section 1-1-113 (1) no later than five days after the filing deadline
for candidates. Any such challenge must provide notice in a summary manner of an
alleged impropriety that gives rise to the complaint. No later than five days after
the challenge is filed, a hearing must be held at which time the district court shall
hear the challenge and assess the validity of all alleged improprieties. The district
court shall issue findings of fact and conclusions of law no later than forty-eight
hours after the hearing. The party filing the challenge has the burden to sustain the
challenge by a preponderance of the evidence. Any order entered by the district
court may be reviewed in accordance with section 1-1-113 (3).

Legislative History

Source: Initiated 2016: Entire part RC&RE, Proposition 107, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, December 27, 2016. See L. 2017, p. 2818. L. 2017: (1)(c) and (4) amended, (SB 17-305), ch. 216, p. 843, � 4, effective August 9. L. 2019: (1)(a) repealed and (1.5) added, (HB 19-1278), ch. 326, p. 3019, � 26, effective August 2.