1-13.5-302. Nomination of local government candidates
Statute
(1) Except as provided in section 1-13.5-303 or other applicable law, candidates for office of nonpartisan local governments must be nominated, without regard to affiliation, by petition on forms supplied by the designated election official. A petition of nomination may consist of one or more sheets, but it must contain the name and address of only one candidate and indicate the office to which the candidate is seeking election. The candidate’s name must be printed on each sheet of a petition of nomination.
(2) Nomination petitions for a candidate in a local government, other than a special district or business improvement district, may be circulated and signed, beginning on January 1 of the year in which election for that office is conducted and ending on the sixty-seventh day prior to the day of election, by at least two eligible electors residing within or eligible to vote in the local government.
(3) The circulator of each nomination petition shall make an affidavit that each signature thereon is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be and that each signer has stated to the circulator that the signer is an eligible elector of the local government for which the nomination is made.
(4) A petition is not valid if it does not contain the requisite number of signatures of eligible electors. The designated election official shall inspect timely filed petitions of nomination to ensure compliance with this section.
(5) Each nomination petition must be filed with the designated election official no later than the sixty-seventh day prior to the day of election. Every petition must have endorsed on it or appended to it the written affidavit of the candidate accepting the nomination and swearing that the candidate satisfies the requirements set forth in law to be a candidate and hold office in the local government.
(6) The designated election official shall preserve all nomination petitions filed with him or her for a period of two years. All such petitions are open to public inspection under proper regulation by the designated election official with whom they are filed.
Source: L. 2014: Entire article added, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 12, § 6, effective February 18.
1. Definition for Circulated
Presented to an elector for the collection of a signature and other information required by this article. C.R.S. § 1-12-100.5.
2. Definition for Circulator
A person who presents to other persons for possible signature a petition for recall as described in this article. C.R.S. § 1-12-100.5.
3. Definition for Circulator
A person who presents to other persons for possible signature a petition to place a measure on the ballot by initiative or referendum.
4. Definition for Designated election official
The secretary of state, a county clerk and recorder, or other election official as provided by article XXI of the state constitution. C.R.S. § 1-12-100.5.
5. Definition for State
A state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. C.R.S. § 1-8.3-102.
6. Definition for Person
Any natural person, partnership, committee, association, corporation, labor organization, political party, or other organization or group of persons. Section 2(11) of article XXVIII of the state constitution.
7. Definition for Section
A bound compilation of initiative forms approved by the secretary of state, which shall include pages that contain the warning required by section 1-40-110 (1), the ballot title, the abstract required by section 1-40-110 (3), and a copy of the proposed measure; succeeding pages that contain the warning, the ballot title, and ruled lines numbered consecutively for registered electors’ signatures; and a final page that contains the affidavit required by section 1-40-111 (2). Each section shall be consecutively prenumbered by the petitioner prior to circulation.
8. Definition for Election
Any election under the “Uniform Election Code of 1992” or the “Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965”, article 10 of title 31, C.R.S. C.R.S. § 1-7.5-103.
9. Definition for Candidate
Any person who seeks nomination or election to any state or local public office that is to be voted on in this state at any primary election, general election, school district election, special district election, or municipal election. “Candidate” also includes a judge or justice of any court of record who seeks to be retained in office pursuant to the provisions of section 25 of article VI. A person is a candidate for election if the person has publicly announced an intention to seek election to public office or retention of a judicial office and thereafter has received a contribution or made an expenditure in support of the candidacy. A person remains a candidate for purposes of this article so long as the candidate maintains a registered candidate committee. A person who maintains a candidate committee after an election cycle, but who has not publicly announced an intention to seek election to public office in the next or any subsequent election cycle, is a candidate for purposes of this article. Section 2(2) of article XXVIII of the state constitution.