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Colorado > Colorado Electoral Code > Initiative And Referendum

1-40-134. Withdrawal of initiative petition

Overview of Statute

Procedures for withdrawing a petition from consideration.

Statute

The designated representatives of the proponents of an initiative petition may withdraw the petition from consideration as a ballot issue by filing a letter with the secretary of state requesting that the petition not be placed on the ballot. The letter shall be signed and acknowledged by both designated representatives before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments and shall be filed no later than sixty days prior to the election at which the initiative is to be voted upon.

Source: L. 98: Entire section added, p. 632, § 1, effective May 6.L. 2009: Entire section amended, (HB 09-1326), ch. 258, p. 1179, § 17, effective May 15.

Definition [Ballot issue]

A nonrecall,  citizen-initiated  petition  or legislatively-referred
measure which is authorized by the state constitution, including a question as defined in  sections 1-41-102 (3) and 1-41-103 (3), enacted in Senate Bill 93-98.

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 [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.

Cases

Colorado Cases

Case Name: Buckley v. Chilcutt

Citation: 968 P.2d 112 (Colo. 1998)

Year: 1998

Case URL: https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/dd8316fd8f1d881282e84500d3974166

Case Summary: Holding that the secretary of state must certify the number of signatures on a ballot initiative for medical marijuana before including the initiative on a ballot. The sectary initially rejected the initiative because of an insufficient number of signatures. After the elector protested this decision, the secretary overturned its decision and agreed to place the initiative on the ballot while she conducted a line-by-line review.

Case Name: In re Title, Ballot Title and Submission Clause, and Summary for 1999-2000 #29

Citation: 972 P.2d 257 (Colo. 1999)

Year: 1999

Case URL: https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/ac61f31d5e20c73dde3eb52cc6fcffb1

Case Summary: Holding that an initiative violated the single-subject requirement of the state constitution because it would have changed the qualifications to serve as a state judge or justice, changed the qualifications to serve as a member of the judicial discipline commission, and changed the jurisdiction of county judges for the City and County of Denver. These three changes served different purposes and were not interrelated, and thus the initiative violated the single-subject rule.

Out-of-State Cases

Federal Cases

Regulations & Guidance