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Colorado > Colorado Electoral Code > Survey of Returns

1-10-105. Official abstract of votes cast – certification by secretary of state

Statute

(1) After receiving the final abstracts of votes cast for all elections from the counties, including any recounts, the secretary of state shall prepare and certify the official statewide election results for all candidates, ballot issues, and ballot questions that the secretary of state certified for the ballot. For each contest, the certified election results must show the total number of votes received, with subtotals for each county in which the candidate was on the ballot, and the ballot wording for each ballot issue and ballot question.

(2) In the event of tie votes, the secretary of state shall include the method of resolving votes and the final result in the statewide abstract of votes cast.

(3) (Deleted by amendment, L. 99, p. 480, § 7, effective July 1, 1999.)

(4) In the event that an accurate and verifiable determination of the count cannot be made and therefore the secretary of state is unable to certify the election of any candidate, the secretary shall issue a report indicating the nature of the irregularity rather than issue a certification.

(5) The secretary of state shall publish on a biennial basis an official abstract of votes cast for all statewide elections held in the year of the general election and include the odd-number year immediately preceding that general election. The abstract shall contain the following information:

(a) All information included in the statewide abstract of votes cast, as provided in subsection (1) of this section;

(b) The names of candidates elected to county offices and the offices for which they were elected, as furnished by the county clerk and recorders;

(c) The reconciled total number of active, registered voters in each county on election day;

(d) Based on the total number of registered voters, the percent of voter turnout in each county; and

(e) Any other information that the secretary of state determines would be interesting or useful to the electorate or other elected officials.

(6) Upon the request of a county clerk and recorder, the secretary of state shall furnish a copy of the complete official biennial statewide abstract of votes to the county clerk and recorder, at no charge, no later than June of the odd-numbered year immediately following the general election.

 

 

Source: L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 777, § 13, effective January 1, 1993.L. 94: (1) amended, p. 1169, § 49, effective July 1.L. 99: Entire section amended, p. 480, § 7, effective July 1.L. 2009: (5)(c) amended, (HB 09-1018), ch. 158, p. 685, § 7, effective August 5.L. 2010: (6) amended, (HB 10-1116), ch. 194, p. 839, § 25, effective May 5.L. 2012: (5)(d) amended, (HB 12-1292), ch. 181, p. 688, § 39, effective May 17.L. 2016: (1) amended, (SB 16-142), ch. 173, p. 586, § 61, effective May 18.

 

Editor’s note: This section is similar to former § 1-10-104 (2) as it existed prior to 1992.
 
ANNOTATION

Annotator’s note. For a relevant case construing the provisions of this section, see the annotations under former § 1-10-104 in the 1980 replacement volume.

Certificate mistakes cannot be corrected by reference to tally lists. Mistakes in filling out the certificates of the judges of elections cannot be corrected by the canvassers or precinct election officials by reference to the tally lists, inasmuch as errors of this kind do not come within the provisions for correcting imperfect returns. People ex rel. Miller v. Tool, 35 Colo. 225, 86 P. 224, 86 P. 229, 86 P. 231, 117 Am. St. R. 198, 6 L.R.A. (n.s.) 822 (1905) (decided under former law).

But election judges may correct where clerical mistake in certificate. here the number of votes in precinct, as shown by the tallies and figures in the pollbook do not correspond to number certified, but there is a clear case of a clerical mistake in the certificate, the judges of election, when they are notified of the error, have a right to correct, and should correct, such error. People ex rel. Harper v. Ingles, 106 Colo. 213, 103 P.2d 475 (1940) (decided under former law).

 

Definition [Election day]

The date either established by law or determined by the governing body of the political subdivision conducting the election, to be the final day on which all ballots are determined to be due, and the date from which all other dates in this article are set.C.R.S. § 1-7.5-103.

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.

Definition [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.

Cases

Colorado Cases

Case Name: People ex rel. Miller v. Tool

Citation: 35 Colo. 225, 86 P. 224, 86 P. 229, 86 P. 231 (1905)

Year: 1905

Case PDF: People ex rel. Miller v. Tool

Case Summary: A temporary election commission participating in a vote count should disregard tally lists if different than a precinct election official's certificate. Decided in part under former statutory provisions.

Case Name: People ex rel. Harper v. Ingles

Citation: 106 Colo. 213, 103 P.2d 475 (1940)

Year: 1940

Case URL: https://perma.cc/6XY7-5YKB

Case Summary: A losing candidate for the office of city treasurer denied a writ of mandamus to compel a clerk to certify the election in her favor. Contestor argued that the number of votes cast in a precinct that she lost exceeded the number of eligible voters, but she failed to show that she should have won the precinct.

Out-of-State Cases

Federal Cases