Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends various provisions of Colorado election code.

Highlights:

• Expands the definition of “identification,” for the purposes of election code, to include a Division of Youth Corrections identification card issued by the Department of Human Services to an elector, or written correspondence confirming to the county clerk that the elector is in detention (Sec. 1).

• Requires the secretary of state to provide the county clerk of each county access to an updated copy of the pertinent sections of the election laws of the state following each legislative session (Sec. 3).

• Requires the county clerk and recorder of each county to set operational hours for their respective offices (Sec. 4).

• Requires each institution of higher education to provide students with information on the hours and locations of polling centers and ballot drop-off locations on campus on both the 15th day and the final day prior to an election (Sec. 6).

• Requires the computerized statewide voter registration list maintained by the secretary of state to support the use of geographic information system (GIS) data for voter registration records (Sec. 9).

• Specifies that if a presidential candidate or vice-presidential candidate dies or withdraws after their nomination but before an election, then votes cast for that candidate are applied to the successor candidate nominated by the appropriate political party (Sec. 14).

• Requires the names of candidates to appear on ballots in an order based on name and party affiliation, with major party candidates appearing first, minor party candidates appearing second, and unaffiliated candidates appearing third (Sec. 18).

• Establishes regulations and clarifications on the timing requirements of parties to nominate representatives to fill a vacancy (Sec. 23-31).

• Reduces the time that a polling center must be open on campuses with 10,000 students or more from 15 days prior to an election to 10 days prior to an election (Sec. 33).

• Requires all voting service and polling centers to remain open on election day, and specifies that centers that experience a shortage of supplies must remain open and may be required to remain open after 7 P.M. (Sec. 33).

• Extends the time that ballot drop boxes must be available to electors from 15 days prior to an election to 22 days prior to an election (Sec. 33).

• Requires campus polling centers to be identified, described, and marked by certain postings at least 20 days before an election (Sec. 34).

• Requires all county clerks and recorders to adopt an electronic or electromechanical voting system (Sec. 39).

• Requires employees to be entitled to a two hour period of excused absence for voting during any day when voter service and polling centers are open (Sec. 43).

• Authorizes electors to take printed or written materials into a voter service and polling center as a resource to use while voting (Sec. 45).

• Requires all voter service and polling centers to record wait times for electors to cast a ballot and enact a contingency plan to avoid or minimize wait times exceeding one hour (Sec. 46).

• Establishes a required method of counting paper ballots when it becomes necessary to do so (Sec. 47).

• Requires each county clerk and recorder to mail a mail ballot packet to each registered elector no later than 25 days prior to an election (Sec. 50).

• Requires in-person voting to remain open for specified amounts of time at county jails or detention centers based on the number of beds in the center (Sec. 52).

• Repeals provisions regarding the challenge of illegal or fraudulent voter registration (Sec. 53).

• Requires the governor to fill a vacancy in the office of United States senator by appointment of an individual who is a member of the same political party as the former United States senator (Sec. 57).

• Expands the boundaries of interference with voters while voting to include an area of one hundred feet around any building in which a polling location or ballot drop-off is located (Sec. 60).

Full Bill Text