(1)A person shall not circulate a petition to nominate a candidate unless the person is
a citizen of the United States and at least eighteen years of age.
(2)(a) Each petition section must have attached a signed, notarized, and
dated affidavit executed by the person who circulated the petition section, which
must include: The affiant's printed name, the address at which the affiant resides,
including the street name and number, the city or town, the county, and the date of
signature; a statement that the affiant has read and understands the laws
governing the circulation of petitions; a statement that the affiant was a citizen of
the United States and at least eighteen years of age at the time the section of the
petition was circulated and signed by the listed electors; a stat
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(1)
A person shall not circulate a petition to nominate a candidate unless the person is
a citizen of the United States and at least eighteen years of age.
(2) (a) Each petition section must have attached a signed, notarized, and
dated affidavit executed by the person who circulated the petition section, which
must include: The affiant's printed name, the address at which the affiant resides,
including the street name and number, the city or town, the county, and the date of
signature; a statement that the affiant has read and understands the laws
governing the circulation of petitions; a statement that the affiant was a citizen of
the United States and at least eighteen years of age at the time the section of the
petition was circulated and signed by the listed electors; a statement that the
affiant circulated the section of the petition; a statement that each signature on the
petition section was affixed in the affiant's presence and is the signature of the
person whose name it purports to be; a statement that to the best of the affiant's
knowledge and belief each of the persons signing the petition section was, at the
time of signing, an eligible elector; a statement 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 the signer to sign the petition; a statement that
the affiant understands that the affiant can be prosecuted for violating the law
governing the circulation of petitions, including the requirement that the affiant
truthfully completed the affidavit and that each signature thereon was affixed in
the affiant's presence; and a statement that the affiant understands that failing to
make himself or herself available to be deposed and to provide testimony in the
event of a protest shall invalidate the petition section if it is challenged on the
grounds of circulator fraud.
(b) (I) A notary public shall not notarize an affidavit required under
subsection (2)(a) of this section unless:
(A) The circulator is in the physical presence of the notary public; and
(B) The circulator has dated the affidavit and fully and accurately completed
all of the personal information on the affidavit required by subsection (2)(a) of this
section.
(II) An affidavit that is notarized in violation of any provision of subsection
(2)(b)(I) of this section is invalid.
(III) If the date signed by a circulator on an affidavit required under
subsection (2)(a) of this section is different from the date signed by the notary
public, the affidavit is invalid. If a notary public notarizes an affidavit that has not
been dated by the circulator, the notarization date does not cure the circulator's
failure to date the affidavit and the affidavit is invalid.
(3) The designated election official shall not accept for filing any section of a
petition which does not have attached to it the notarized affidavit required by this
section. Any signature added to a section of a petition after the affidavit has been
executed is invalid.
(4) (a) As part of any court proceeding or hearing conducted by the secretary
of state or designated election official related to a protest of all or part of a petition
section, the circulator of such petition section shall be required to make himself or
herself available to be deposed and to testify in person, by telephone, or by any
other means permitted under the Colorado rules of civil procedure. Except as set
forth in subsection (4)(b) of this section, the petition section that is the subject of
the protest shall be invalid if a circulator fails to comply with the requirement set
forth in this subsection (4)(a) for any protest that includes an allegation of
circulator fraud that is pled with particularity regarding:
(I) Forgery of an eligible elector's signature;
(II) Circulation of a petition section, in whole or part, by anyone other than
the person who signs the affidavit attached to the petition section;
(III) Use of a false circulator name or address in the affidavit; or
(IV) Payment of money or other things of value to any person for the purpose
of inducing the person to sign the petition.
(b) Upon the finding by a district court, the secretary of state, or the
designated election official that the circulator of a petition section is unable to be
deposed or to testify at trial or a hearing conducted by the secretary of state or
designated election official because the circulator has died, become mentally
incompetent, or become medically incapacitated and physically unable to testify by
any means whatsoever, the provisions of subsection (4)(a) of this section do not
apply to invalidate a petition section circulated by the circulator.
(5) A candidate or candidate committee shall maintain a list of the names
and addresses of all circulators who circulated petition sections on behalf of the
candidate, the notaries public who notarized petition sections on behalf of the
candidate, and the petition section numbers that each circulator circulated and that
each notary public notarized. A copy of the list shall be filed with the secretary of
state or designated election official along with the petition. If a copy of the list is
not filed, the secretary of state or designated election official shall prepare the list
and charge the proponents a fee to cover the actual cost of the preparation. Once
filed or prepared by the secretary of state or designated election official, the list is
a public record for purposes of article 72 of title 24.
(6) (a) A circulator who is not to be paid for circulating a petition shall display
an identification badge that includes the words VOLUNTEER CIRCULATOR in
bold-faced type that is clearly legible.
(b) A circulator who is to be paid for circulating a petition shall display an
identification badge that includes the words PAID CIRCULATOR in bold-faced
type that is clearly legible and the name and telephone number of the individual
employing the circulator.
(7) The secretary of state shall develop circulator training programs for paid
and volunteer circulators and shall offer the training programs in the most cost-effective manner available. A candidate, committee, or petition entity shall inform
paid and volunteer circulators of the availability of these training programs as one
manner of complying with the requirement set forth in the circulator's affidavit that
a circulator read and understand the laws pertaining to petition circulation.