Colorado Secretary of State’s Office Enacts New Rules for Campaign Finance Enforcement

Denver, August 10, 2020 – The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office today adopted a set of new rules pertaining to campaign finance compliance and enforcement, including clarifying the process for filing complaints and for reaching settlement agreements for violations. The temporary rules go into effect immediately and will become permanent in accordance with the State Administrative Procedure Act at a later date.

In 2019, the Colorado legislature passed the Campaign Finance Enforcement Act, which modernized Colorado’s enforcement process to be more fair, efficient, and constitutional. A Campaign-Political Enforcement team was created in the Elections Division within the Secretary of State’s Office and tasked with handling complaints. This includes investigating the complaints, resolving them through cure, dismissing them if no violation is found, or filing complaints with the Office of Administrative Courts (OAC).

The new rules clarify or provide additional details concerning the complaint process including that complaints must be filed in writing and can be submitted electronically or by hardcopy. They must also identify a respondent and a complainant, and complaints may be consolidated, among other requirements.

The rules also outline a fine structure should the Elections Division and a complaint respondent arrive at a settlement agreement after an OAC complaint has been filed. The new fine structure creates clarity as well as consistency and includes provisions that can increase penalties based on egregious behavior or mitigate them based on a number of factors.

For a complete list of the new and amended rules, please click here. For more information on Campaign-Political Finance, please click here.