COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE
8 CCR 1505-1
ELECTION RULES

Preliminary Draft of Proposed Rules

February 28, 2011

Disclaimer:  This draft is not necessarily final.  The proposed changes to be considered at the public rulemaking hearing may be different than the proposed changes in this draft.  This draft is submitted to the Department of Regulatory Agencies for the purpose of complying with section 24-4-103(2.5), C.R.S., which requires that a draft be submitted to the Department at the time that a notice of proposed rulemaking is filed with the Secretary of State.
A revised copy of the proposed rule changes will be available to the public no later than March 25, 2011, and a copy will be posted on the Department of State’s web site, in compliance with the requirement of section 24-4-103(4)(a), C.R.S., that “[a]ny proposed rule or revised proposed rule by an agency which is to be considered at the public hearing . . . shall be made available to any person at least five days prior to said hearing.”
Proposed additions to the current rules are reflected in small caps.  Proposed deletions from current rules are shown in stricken type.   Annotations may be included. 
Rule 6.5.2(f)(1) would be amended as follows:
(f)	Ballot issues from the various political subdivisions shall be ordered on the ballot as provided in section 1-5-407(5), C.R.S:
1.	Each category of referred and initiated state amendments and propositions shall be numbered and listed on the ballot in the following series:
A-Z	State Referred Constitutional Amendments	
01-99	State Initiated Constitutional Amendments	
AA-ZZ	State Referred Statutory Propositions	
101-199	State Initiated Statutory Propositions	
If a referred or initiated measure contains both a proposed constitutional and statutory change, the measure shall be ordered on the ballot as a constitutional amendment.
Rule 15.2 would be amended as follows:
15.2	Petition representatives
15.2.1 No petition shall be accepted which lists proponents other than the two identified as petition representatives pursuant to section 1-40-104, C.R.S.
15.2.2	For the purposes of section 1-40-118(2.5)(a), C.R.S., the “person responsible” includes any person or entity who circulates, or causes a petition to be circulated, and who commits, authorizes, or knowingly permits fraud as defined in Rule 15.3.4 resulting in the collection of invalid signatures or petition sections.
Rule 15.3 would be amended as follows:
15.3	Petition circulation
15.3.1	Proponents may begin circulating a petition for signatures at any time after the final decision of the title board, including disposition of any motion for rehearing or the expiration of the time for filing a motion for rehearing, and after the Secretary of State has approved the format of the petition as provided in section 1-40-113 (1), C.R.S., whether or not an appeal is filed with the Supreme Court pursuant to section 1-40-107 (2).  If an appeal is filed with the Supreme Court, the six-month period specified in section 1-40-108 (1) shall begin on the date that the first signature is affixed to the petition or on the date that the decision of the Supreme Court becomes final, whichever date occurs first.  Signatures shall be counted only if affixed to the petition during the period provided in this rule.
15.3.2	The petition circulator shall provide his or her permanent residence address on the circulator affidavit.  If the circulator is not a resident of Colorado as described in section 1-2-102, C.R.S., the circulator shall also provide the address in Colorado where he or she temporarily resides.
15.3.3	When the circulator affidavit is notarized, the circulator shall present identification in accordance with Colorado notary law, (section 12-55-110(4)(b), C.R.S.).
15.3.4	For the purposes of Article 40, Title 1, C.R.S., fraud shall include, but is not necessarily not limited to the following:
a.	Forgery of a registered elector's signature;
b.	Circulation of a petition section, in whole or part, by anyone other than the person who signs the affidavit attached to the petition section;
c.	Intentional Use of a false circulator name or address in the affidavit;
d.	Payment of money or other things of value to any person for the purpose of inducing the person to either sign the petition or remove his or her name from the petition; or
e.	Making false or misleading statements relating to a petition with the intent to deceive.
Rule 17.2.3(b) would be amended as follows:
17.2.3	The circulator’s affidavit shall be checked to assure it has been completed in accordance with the statutory requirements listed below.  If the affidavit was not completed in accordance with the requirements listed below, all entries in the section shall be rejected.
a.		For candidate petitions, the circulator’s affidavit shall be completed in accordance with section 1-4-905(1) and (2), C.R.S.
b.	For initiative petitions, the circulator’s affidavit shall be completed in accordance with section 1-40-111(2), C.R.S., 	and notarized in compliance with Colorado notary law (section 12-55-110(4)(b), C.R.S.).  No petition section may be rejected because the circulator presented identification issued by another state at the time of notarization.