1-3-102. Precinct caucuses
Overview of Statute
Regulations for precinct caucuses as applied to precinct committee persons, delegates, and participants.
Statute
(1)(a)(I) Precinct committee persons and delegates to county assemblies shall be elected at precinct caucuses that shall be held in a public place or in a private home that is open to the public during the caucus in or proximate to each precinct at a time and place to be fixed by the county central committee or executive committee of each political party. Except as otherwise provided by subparagraph (III) of this paragraph (a), the precinct caucuses shall be held on the first Tuesday in March, in each even-numbered year, which day shall be known as “precinct caucus day”.
(II) Repealed by Laws 2002, Ch. 51, § 2, eff. July 1, 2002.
(III) In a year in which a presidential election will be held, a political party may, by decision of its state central committee, hold its precinct caucuses on the first Saturday following the presidential primary election. The committee shall notify the secretary of state and the clerk and recorder of each county in the state of the decision on or before January 2 of the year in which the election will be held.
(b) Any private home in which a precinct caucus is to be held shall be accessible to persons with disabilities in accordance with the rules of the county central committee or executive committee of each political party. The rules shall specify guidelines for determining whether a private home is accessible to persons with disabilities for purposes of this subsection (1) and for determining controversies regarding such accessibility.
(2)(a) The participants at the precinct caucus shall also elect two precinct committeepersons. Any person eighteen years of age or older may be a candidate for the office of precinct committeeperson if he or she has been a resident of the precinct for twenty-two days and has been affiliated with the political party holding the precinct caucus for a period of at least twenty-two days preceding the date of the precinct caucus; except that any person who has attained the age of eighteen years or who has become a naturalized citizen during the twenty-two days immediately preceding the precinct caucus may be a candidate for the office of precinct committeeperson even though he or she has been affiliated with the political party for less than twenty-two days as shown in the statewide voter registration system. The two people receiving the highest number of votes at the caucus for precinct committeeperson are elected as the precinct committeepersons of the precinct. If two or more candidates for precinct committeeperson receive an equal and the second highest number of votes, or if three or more candidates receive an equal and the highest number of votes, the election must be determined by lot by those candidates. All disputes regarding the election of precinct committeepersons are determined by the credentials committees of the respective party assemblies. The names of the committeepersons elected must be certified to the county assembly of the political party by the officers of the caucus. The county assembly shall ratify the list of committeepersons. The presiding officer and secretary of the county assembly shall file a certified list of the names and addresses, by precinct, of those persons elected as precinct committeepersons with the county clerk and recorder within four days after the date of the county assembly.
(b) Within ten days after the boundaries of an existing precinct are changed or a new precinct is created, the members of the party county central committee vacancy committee shall select members to fill the vacancies for precinct committeepersons.
(c) Repealed by Laws 1993, H.B.93-1255, § 28, eff. July 1, 1993.
(d) The person elected as committeeperson at the caucus shall assume the office immediately following the caucus. Causes for removal of the elected committeeperson from office shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(I) In the case of removal by the credentials committee at the county assembly, the person does not meet the qualifications for committeeperson;
(II) In the case of removal by the county central committee, the person has moved from the precinct or has changed affiliation.
(III) Repealed by Laws 1993, H.B.93-1255, § 28, eff. July 1, 1993.
(3), (4) Repealed by Laws 1981, S.B.277, § 12, eff. January 1, 1982.
1, 1982. L. 82: (2)(a) amended, p. 216, § 1, effective February 19. L. 85:(1) amended, p. 248, § 3, effective July 1. L. 90: (1) amended, p. 303, § 3, effective June 8. L. 91: (2)(a) amended, p. 618, § 29, effective May 1. L. 92: Entire article amended, p. 665, § 3, effective January 1, 1993. L.
93: (2)(c) and (2)(d)(III) repealed, p. 1404, § 28, effective July 1. L. 94: (2)(a) amended, p. 1768, § 23, effective January 1, 1995. L. 95: (2)(a) amended, p. 828, § 24, effective July 1. L. 98: (1) amended, p. 633, § 4, effective May 6. L. 99: (1) and (2)(a) amended, p. 761, § 16, effective May 20; (1) amended, p. 100, § 1, effective August 4; (2)(d)(II) amended, p. 159, § 6, effective August 4. L. 2001: (1) amended, p. 1001, § 2, effective August 8. L. 2002: (1)(a) amended, p. 132, § 2, effective March 27. L. 2005: (1)(a)(I) amended, p. 1398, § 12, effective June 6; (1)(a)(I) amended, p. 1433, § 12, effective June 6. L. 2007: (1)(a)(I) amended and (1)(a)(III) added, p. 1988, § 3, effective August 3. L. 2011: (1)(a)(I) amended, (SB 11-189), ch. 243, p. 1062, § 2, effective May 27. L. 2016: (2)(a) amended, (SB 16-142), ch. 173, p. 574, § 26, effective May 18. Initiated 2016: (1)(a)(III) amended, Proposition 107, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, December 27, 2016. See L. 2017, p. 2820. L. 2019: (1)(a)(III) amended, (HB 19-1278), ch. 326, p. 3009, § 13, effective August 2; L. 2020: (2)(a) amended (HB 20-1289), Ch. 2, § 2, eff. March 3.
Editor’s note: (1) Subsection (1) is similar to former § 1-14-205 (1), and subsections (2) to (4) are similar to former § 1-14-206, as they existed prior to 1980. (2) Amendments to subsection (1) by Senate Bill 99-025 and Senate Bill 99-027 were harmonized. (3) Subsection (1)(a)(II)(B) provided for the repeal of subsection (1)(a)(II), effective July 1,
2002. Colorado Revised Statutes 2017 (See L. 2002, p. 132.) (4) This section was amended by initiative in 2016. (5) Section 7 of Proposition 107 (p. 2820), Session Laws of Colorado 2017, provides that the
measure changing this section applies to any presidential primary election conducted after December 27, 2016.
Cross references: For the declaration of the people of Colorado in Proposition 107, see section 1 on p. 2815, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.
ANNOTATION
Applied in Carstens v. Lamm, 543 F. Supp. 68 (D. Colo. 1982).
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- Cross-References:
- Election Day
- Regulation of Polling Places
1. Definition for Political party
Any group of registered electors who, by petition or assembly, nominate candidates for the official general election ballot. “Political party” includes affiliated party organizations at the state, county, and election district levels, and all such affiliates are considered to be a single entity for the purposes of this article, except as otherwise provided in section 7. Section 2(13) of article XXVIII of the state constitution.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Definition for Secretary
The Colorado secretary of state. C.R.S. § 1-1.5-102.
7. Definition for Committee
The committee of signers described in section 1-12-108(2). C.R.S. § 1-12-100.5.
8. 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.
Cases
Colorado Cases
Out-of-State Cases
Federal Cases
Case Name: Carstens v. Lamm
Citation: 543 F. Supp. 68 (D. Colo. 1982)
Federal District Court: District of Colorado
Year: 1982
Case URL: https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/6f119a74bd4befea9222a4d31dcefcca
Case Summary: Holding that the current congressional redistricting plan was unconstitutional and, because none of the plans submitted to the Court fully comported with the appropriate objectives and criteria, the court must fashion its own plan to satisfy the legal criteria and incorporate the most desirable aspects of the plans submitted to the Court.