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1-13.5-1306. Recount

Statute

(1) The designated election official shall order a recount of the votes cast in any election if it appears, as evidenced by the survey of returns, that the difference between the highest number of votes cast in the election and the next highest number of votes cast in the election is less than or equal to one-half of one percent of the highest number of votes cast in the election. Any recount conducted pursuant to this subsection (1) shall be completed no later than the twenty-eighth day following the election and shall be paid for by the governing body of the local government. The designated election official shall give notice of the recount to the governing body, to all candidates and, in the case of a ballot issue or question, to any issue committee that are affected by the result of the election. The notice must be given by any means reasonably expected to notify the affected candidates or issue committee. An affected candidate or issue committee is allowed to be present during and observe the recount.

(2) (a) Whenever a recount of the votes cast in an election is not required pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, any interested party, including an eligible elector or a candidate for office or the issue committee for a ballot issue or question, may submit to the designated election official a written request for a recount at the expense of the interested party making the request. This request shall be filed with the designated election official within seventeen days after the election.

(b) Before conducting the recount, the designated election official shall:

(I) Give notice of the recount in accordance with subsection (1) of this section;

(II) Determine the cost of the recount;

(III) Notify the interested party that requested the recount of such cost; and

(IV) Collect the actual cost of conducting the recount from such interested party.

(c) The interested party that requested the recount shall pay on demand the cost of the recount to the designated election official. The funds paid to the designated election official for the recount must be held and used for payment of all expenses incurred in the recount.

(d) If, after the recount, the result of the election is reversed in favor of the interested party that requested the recount or if the amended election count is such that a recount otherwise would have been required pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the payment for expenses must be refunded to the interested party who paid them.

(e) Any recount of votes conducted pursuant to this subsection (2) must be completed no later than the twenty-eighth day after canvassing the election.

(f) If any leftover funds remain from the deposit paid under paragraph (c) of this subsection (2), and the recount does not change the result of the election, the designated election official shall return that unused portion of the deposit to the interested party who paid it.

(3) The designated election official is responsible for conducting the recount and shall be assisted by those persons who assisted in preparing the official abstract of votes. If those persons cannot participate in the recount, other persons shall be appointed as provided in section 1-13.5-1301. The designated election official may appoint additional persons qualified to be the election judges who did not serve as judges in the election as assistants in conducting the recount. Persons assisting in the conduct of the recount shall be compensated as provided in section 1-13.5-1301 (4).

(4) The designated election official may require the production of any documentary evidence regarding the legality of any vote cast or counted and may correct the survey of returns in accordance with the designated election official’s findings based on the evidence presented.

(5) In elections using paper or electronic ballots, the recounts are of the ballots cast and the votes must be tallied on sheets other than those used at the election. In elections using voting machines, the recount is of the votes tabulated on the voting machines, and separate tally sheets must be used for each machine.

(6) After a recount conducted pursuant to this section has been completed, the designated election official shall notify the governing body of the local government conducting the election of the results of the recount, shall make a certificate of election for each candidate who received the highest number of votes for an office for which a recount was conducted, and shall deliver the certificate to such candidate.

 

Source: L. 2014: Entire article added, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 52, § 6, effective February 18.

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 [Issue committee]

Any person, other than a natural person, or any group of two or more persons, including natural persons:

(I) That has a major purpose of supporting or opposing any ballot issue or ballot question; or

(II) That has accepted or made contributions or expenditures in excess of two hundred dollars to support or oppose any ballot issue or ballot question.

(b) “Issue committee” does not include political parties, political committees, small donor committees, or candidate committees as otherwise defined in this section.

(c) An issue committee shall be considered open and active until affirmatively closed by such committee or by action of the appropriate authority.

Section 2(10) of article XXVIII of the state constitution.

 

(b) For purposes of section 2 (10) (a) (I) of article XXVIII of the state constitution, “major purpose” means support of or opposition to a ballot issue or ballot question that is reflected by:

(I) An organization’s specifically identified objectives in its organizational documents at the time it is established or as such documents are later amended; or

(II) An organization’s demonstrated pattern of conduct based upon its:

(A) Annual expenditures in support of or opposition to a ballot issue or ballot question; or

(B) Production or funding, or both, of written or broadcast communications, or both, in support of or opposition to a ballot issue or ballot question.

(c) The provisions of paragraph (b) of this subsection (12) are intended to clarify, based on the decision of the Colorado court of appeals in Independence Institute v. Coffman, 209 P.3d 1130 (Colo. App. 2008), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 130 S. Ct. 165, 175 L. Ed. 479 (2009), section 2 (10) (a) (I) of article XXVIII of the state constitution and not to make a substantive change to said section 2 (10) (a) (I).

C.R.S. § 1-45-103.

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 [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 [Committee]

The committee of signers described in section 1-12-108(2). C.R.S. § 1-12-100.5.

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.

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