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Colorado > Colorado Electoral Code > Qualifications And Registration Of Electors

1-2-210.5. Registration of and voting by persons in custody of division of youth corrections – definitions

Overview of Statute

The administrator of residential juvenile facilities must facilitate the registration and voting of individuals under the custody of the division of youth corrections who will be eighteen on the date of the next election. These duties include providing information about how to register and cast a ballot by mail, distributing voting and registration materials upon an individual’s request, as well as ensuring the timely delivery of cast ballots to the designated election official.

The required delivery process involves forwarding applications on a weekly basis, or on a daily basis during the last week immediately preceding a registration deadline, to the county clerk and recorder where the applicant resides. Administrators performing these duties will be exempt from limitations on the number of permissible mail and mail-in ballots an eligible voter may deliver in person to election officials. Lastly, election officials must send requested voting materials to the administrator in a timely manner.

In addition, the administrator and Secretary of State must post information regarding the verification requirements for confined individuals in prominent locations on the websites for the Department of Human Services and the Secretary of State. In accordance with C.R.S. § 1–1–104(19.5)(d), the confinement within the Department of Human Services and satisfaction of registration and voter eligibility requirements provides sufficient verification. The Secretary must provide notice to election officials, including the county clerk and recorders, that satisfaction of these requirements enables a person to register and vote.

Statute

(1) In the case of any individual committed to a juvenile facility and in the custody of the division of youth services in the department of human services created in section 19-2-203 (1) who is eighteen years of age or older on the date of the next election, the administrator of the facility in which the individual is committed shall facilitate the registration for voting purposes of, and voting by, the individual. In connection with this requirement, the administrator shall provide the individual information regarding his or her voting rights and how the individual may register to vote and cast a mail ballot, provide the individual with voter information materials upon the request of the individual, and ensure that any mail ballot cast by the individual is timely delivered to the designated election official.

(2) The administrator and the secretary of state shall post the type or kind of verification satisfying the requirements of section 1-1-104 (19.5) (d) in a prominent place on the public web sites maintained by the department of human services and the secretary, respectively. The secretary shall provide notice to the county clerk and recorders as well as other designated election officials throughout the state that such verification constitutes an acceptable form of identification under section 1-1-104 (19.5) permitting the individuals possessing such identification to register to vote and cast a ballot.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an administrator is exempt from any restriction under law on the number of mail or mail-in ballots an eligible elector may deliver in person to the designated election official.

(4) The administrator shall forward applications made under this section on a weekly basis, or on a daily basis during the last week allowed for registration prior to any election, to the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the facility is located, and, if the applicant resides in a different county from the facility, the application must then be forwarded to the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the applicant resides.

(5) As used in this section:

(a) “Administrator” means the administrator, or his or her designee, of the division of youth services created in section 19-2-203 (1), a residential facility operated by the division of youth services, or a residential facility that contracts with the division of youth services in which a person committed to the department of human services is confined and eligible to register to vote and cast a ballot.

(b) (I) “Voter information materials” means the following documents, as applicable to the election for which the individual seeks to register to vote and cast a ballot:

(A) Any forms used to register an elector under this part 2;

(B) An application for a mail ballot pursuant to section 1-13.5-1002;

(C) A copy of a ballot information booklet described in section 1-40-124.5; and

(D) Any mailings to electors that are described in section 1-40-125.

(II) Upon an administrator’s written request to the legislative council staff or a county clerk and recorder for copies of the documents specified in sub-subparagraph (C) or (D) of subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (b), the legislative council staff or county clerk and recorder, as applicable, shall timely provide copies of the documents to the administrator in a sufficient number to cover the number of individuals who are authorized to register and vote under this section and who are either residing in the administrator’s facility or under the supervision of the administrator’s program.

 

Source: L. 2013: Entire section added, (HB 13-1038), ch. 28, p. 67, § 2, effective March 15.L. 2014: (1) and (5)(b)(I)(B) amended, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 71, § 34, effective February 18.L. 2017: (1) and (5)(a) amended, (HB 17-1329), ch. 381, p. 1968, § 11, effective June 6.

 

Editor’s note: Section 52 of chapter 2 (HB 14-1164), Session Laws of Colorado 2014, provides that changes to this section by the act apply to elections conducted on or after February 18, 2014.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 14-1164, see section 1 of chapter 2, Session Laws of Colorado 2014.

Definition [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.

Definition [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.

Definition [Ballot]

(a) A federal write-in absentee ballot;

(b) A ballot specifically prepared or distributed for use by a covered voter in accordance with this article; or

(c) A ballot cast by a covered voter in accordance with this article.

(2) “Covered voter” means:

(a) A uniformed-service voter defined in paragraph (a) of subsection (9) of this section who is a resident of this state but who is absent from this state by reason of active duty and who otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements;

(b) An overseas voter who, before leaving the United States, was last eligible to vote in this state and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements;

(c) An overseas voter who, before leaving the United States, would have been last eligible to vote in this state had the voter then been of voting age and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements; or

(d) An overseas voter who was born outside the United States, is not described in paragraph (b) or (c) of this subsection (2), and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements if the last place where a parent, legal guardian, spouse, or civil union partner of the voter was, or under this article would have been, eligible to vote before leaving the United States is within this state.

C.R.S. § 1-8.3-102.

Definition [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.

Definition [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.

Definition [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.

Definition [Secretary]

The Colorado secretary of state. C.R.S. § 1-1.5-102.