COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE
[8 CCR 1505-1]
Election rules

Rules as Adopted - Clean

June 17, 2021

(Publication instructions/notes may be included):
Current 8 CCR 1505-1 is amended as follows:
Amendments to Rule 20.5.4 including New Rules 20.5.4(a) and 20.5.4(e):
20.5.4	Voting system access security
(a)	Except for voters using a voting system component to vote during an election, county clerks may not allow any person to access any component of a county’s voting system unless that person has passed the background check required by this or any other rule or law, is performing a task permitted by the county clerk or the Office of the Secretary of State under statute or rule, and is:
(1)	An employee of the county clerk;
(2)	Appointed as an election judge by the county clerk in accordance with Article 6 of Title 1, C.R.S.;
(3)	An employee of the voting system provider for the county’s voting system; or
(4)	An employee or designee of the Secretary of State. 
(b)	All voting system provider employees who conduct work on any component of a county’s voting system must complete a criminal background check prior to the employee’s work with the voting system. The provider must affirm that the check was conducted in writing to the Secretary of State prior to the employee conducting any work. Any person convicted of an election offense or an offense with an element of fraud is prohibited from working on any component of a county’s voting system.
(c)	All Secretary of State staff who conduct work on any component of a county’s voting system must undergo a criminal background check prior to the staff’s work with the voting system. 
(d)	Any person convicted of an election offense or an offense with an element of fraud is prohibited from working on any component of a county’s voting system.
(e)	Any violation of Rule 20 may result in the prohibition or limitation on the use of, as well as decertification of, a county’s voting system or components in accordance with section 1-5-621, C.R.S., and Rule 21.7.3.
Amendments to Rule 21.7.3. Specifically, a portion of former Rule 21.7.3 is re-codified as New Rule 21.7.3(a). Additionally, the Secretary adopts New Rules 21.7.3(b-e) and 21.7.4.
21.7.3	The Secretary of State may investigate a complaint filed by any person, and, upon any findings as outlined in (a) through (e) below, may prohibit, limit or decertify use of a voting system, in whole or in part. An investigation by the Office of the Secretary of State may include, but is not limited to, the review or inspection of the voting system component at issue.  
(a)	Any person installed any uncertified or decertified voting system component;
(b)	A county breaks the chain-of-custody for any component of a voting system by allowing any individual not authorized by Rule 20.5.4 access to that component;
(c)	A county submits an incident report regarding a component of a voting system and the Secretary of State finds that the chain-of-custody cannot be reestablished securely; 
(d)	A component of a voting system experiences repeated hardware failures or malfunctions of a similar nature; or
(e)	The Secretary determines that the integrity or security of a voting system component cannot be verified and that chain-of-custody cannot be reestablished securely.
21.7.4	The Secretary of State will notify a county of the prohibition or limitation on use or decertification of a component of a voting system under Rule 21.7.3 and the county must immediately cease using that component. 
[Not shown: current Rule 21.7.4 is renumbered as Rule 21.7.5]