§ 1-4-1407 — Initiative - petition

(1) (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the registered electors of a county may submit to the board of county
commissioners of the county a proposed ballot question regarding lengthening,
shortening, or eliminating the limitation on terms of office for the district attorney
of the judicial district imposed by section 11 of article XVIII of the state constitution.
The registered electors may commence the initiative process by filing written
notice of the proposed ballot question with the county clerk and recorder and
subsequently, within one hundred eighty days after approval of the petition
pursuant to subsection (2) of this section but no less than one hundred forty days
prior to the next scheduled coordinated or general election, by filing a petition
signed by registered electors of the county in an amount equal to at least five
percent of the total number of votes cast in the county for all candidates for the
office of district attorney at the previous general election.

(b) Upon the receipt and verification of the initiative petition pursuant to this
section, the board of county commissioners shall refer the proposed ballot
question, in the form petitioned for, to the registered electors of the county at the
next scheduled coordinated or general election, whichever occurs first.

(2) (a) Each initiative petition filed pursuant to subsection (1) of this section
shall be printed in a form consistent with this subsection (2). No petition shall be
printed or circulated unless the form and the first printer's proof of the petition
section have first been submitted to the county clerk and recorder and approved by
the county clerk and recorder. The county clerk and recorder shall approve or reject
the form and the first printer's proof of the petition no later than five business days
following the date on which the county clerk and recorder received such material.
The county clerk and recorder shall assure that the petition section contains only
those elements required by this section and contains no extraneous material.

(b) Each petition section shall designate by name and mailing address two
persons who shall represent the proponents thereof on all matters affecting the
initiative petition and to whom all notices or information concerning the petition
shall be mailed.

(c) (I) At the top of each page of every initiative petition section, the
following shall be printed, in a form as prescribed by the county clerk and recorder:

WARNING:

IT IS AGAINST THE LAW:

For anyone to sign any initiative petition with any name other than his or her own, or
to knowingly sign his or her name more than once for the same measure, or to
knowingly sign a petition when not a registered elector who is eligible to vote on
the measure.

DO NOT SIGN THIS PETITION UNLESS YOU ARE A REGISTERED ELECTOR AND
ELIGIBLE TO VOTE ON THIS MEASURE. TO BE A REGISTERED ELECTOR, YOU
MUST BE A CITIZEN OF COLORADO AND REGISTERED TO VOTE.

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

(II) A summary of the proposed ballot question that is the subject of an
initiative petition shall be printed following the warning on each page of a petition
section. The summary shall be true and impartial and shall not be an argument, or
likely to create prejudice, either for or against the measure. The summary shall be
prepared by the county clerk and recorder.

(III) The full text of the proposed ballot question that is the subject of an
initiative petition shall be printed following the summary on the first page or pages
of the petition section that precede the signature page. Notwithstanding the
requirement of subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (c), if the text of the proposed
ballot question requires more than one page of a petition section, the warning and
summary need not appear at the top of any page other than the initial text page.

(IV) The signature pages shall consist of the warning and the summary,
followed by ruled lines numbered consecutively for registered electors' signatures.
If a petition section contains multiple signature pages, all signature lines shall be
numbered consecutively, from the first signature page through the last. The
signature pages shall follow the page or pages on which the full text of the
proposed ballot question that is the subject of the initiative petition is printed.

(3) (a) Following the signature pages of each petition section, there shall be
attached a signed, notarized, and dated affidavit executed by the person who
circulated the petition section, which shall include the following:

(I) The affiant's printed name, the address at which the affiant resides,
including the affiant's street name and number, municipality, and county, and the
date the affiant signed the affidavit;

(II) That the affiant has read and understands the laws governing the
circulation of initiative petitions;

(III) That the affiant was eighteen years of age or older at the time the
petition section was circulated and signed by the listed electors;

(IV) That the affiant circulated the petition section;

(V) That each signature thereon was affixed in the affiant's presence;

(VI) That each signature thereon is the signature of the person whose name
it purports to be;

(VII) That, to the best of the affiant's knowledge and belief, each of the
persons signing the initiative petition section was, at the time of signing, a
registered elector; and

(VIII) That the affiant has not paid or will not in the future pay and that the
affiant believes that no other person has paid or will pay, directly or indirectly, any
money or other thing of value to any signer for the purpose of inducing or causing
such signer to affix the signer's signature to the initiative petition.

(b) The county clerk and recorder shall not accept for filing any petition
section that does not have attached thereto the notarized affidavit required by
paragraph (a) of this subsection (3). Any disassembly of a petition section that has
the effect of separating the affidavit from the signature page or pages shall render
that petition section invalid and of no force and effect.

(c) Any signature added to a petition section after the affidavit has been
executed shall be invalid.

(d) All petition sections shall be prenumbered serially.

(e) Any petition section that fails to conform to the requirements of this
section or that is circulated in a manner other than that permitted by this section
shall be invalid.

(4) The circulation of any petition section other than personally by a
circulator is prohibited. No petition section shall be circulated by any person who is
not eighteen years of age or older at the time the petition section is circulated.

(5) Any initiative petition shall be signed only by registered electors who are
eligible to vote on the measure. Each registered elector shall sign his or her own
signature and shall print his or her name, the address at which he or she resides,
including the street number and name, the city or town, and the county, and the
date of signing. Each registered elector signing a petition shall be encouraged by
the circulator of the petition to sign the petition in ink. In the event a registered
elector is physically unable to sign the petition or is illiterate and wishes to sign the
petition, the elector shall sign and make his or her mark in the space so provided.
Any person, but not a circulator, may assist the disabled or illiterate elector in
completing the remaining information required by this section. The person providing
assistance shall sign his or her name and address and shall state that such
assistance was given to the signor.

(6) (a) The county clerk and recorder shall inspect timely filed initiative
petitions and the attached affidavits, and may do so by examining the information
on signature lines for patent defects, by comparing the information on signature
lines against a list of registered electors of the county.

(b) After examining the initiative petition, the county clerk and recorder shall
issue a statement as to whether a sufficient number of valid signatures has been
submitted. A copy of the statement shall be mailed to the persons designated as
representing the petition proponents pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of
this section.

(c) The statement of sufficiency or insufficiency shall be issued no later than
thirty calendar days after the initiative petition has been filed. If the county clerk
and recorder fails to issue a statement within thirty calendar days, the petition shall
be deemed sufficient.

(7) (a) Within forty days after an initiative petition is filed, a protest in writing
under oath may be filed in the office of the county clerk and recorder by any
registered elector who resides in the county, setting forth specifically the grounds
for such protest. The grounds for protest may include, but shall not be limited to,
the failure of any portion of a petition or circulator affidavit to meet the
requirements of this section. No signature may be challenged that is not identified
in the protest by section and line number. The county clerk and recorder shall
forthwith mail a copy of such protest to the persons designated as representing the
petition proponents pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section and
to the protester, together with a notice fixing a time for hearing such protest that is
not less than five or more than ten days after such notice is mailed.

(b) The county clerk and recorder shall furnish a requesting protester with a
list of the registered electors in the county and shall charge a fee to cover the cost
of furnishing the list.

(c) Every hearing shall be held before the county clerk and recorder with
whom such protest is filed. The county clerk and recorder shall serve as hearing
officer unless some other person is designated by the board of county
commissioners as the hearing officer, and the testimony in every such hearing shall
be under oath. The hearing officer shall have the power to issue subpoenas and
compel the attendance of witnesses. The hearing shall be summary and not subject
to delay and shall be concluded within sixty days after the petition is filed. No later
than five days after the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a
written determination of whether the petition is sufficient or not sufficient. If the
hearing officer determines that a petition is not sufficient, the officer shall identify
those portions of the petition that are not sufficient and the reasons therefor. The
result of the hearing shall be forthwith certified to the protester and to the persons
designated as representing the petition proponents pursuant to paragraph (b) of
subsection (2) of this section. The determination as to petition sufficiency may be
reviewed by the district court for the county upon application of the protester, the
persons designated as representing the petition proponents, or the county, but
such review shall be had and determined forthwith.

(8) The general assembly finds the provisions of this section are a matter of
statewide concern and shall apply to all counties, including home rule counties, and
to the city and county of Denver and the city and county of Broomfield.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2010: Entire part added, (SB 10-070), ch. 238, p. 1042, � 1, effective May 20.