Colorado > Colorado Electoral Code > Elections - Access To Ballot By Candidates

1-4-702. Nominations of candidates for general election by convention.

Statute

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a political party may choose to change from the nomination of candidates by primary election to the nomination of candidates by assembly or convention for all offices including, but not limited to, united states senator, representative in congress, all elective state, district, and county officers, and members of the general assembly if at least three-fourths of the total membership of the party’s state central committee votes to use the assembly or convention nomination process; except that nominations by major political parties for candidates for lieutenant governor shall be made by the party’s candidate for governor pursuant to section 1-4-502 (3). Such vote of the party central committee shall occur no later than October 1 of the year preceding the year in which an assembly or convention nominating process is to be used.

(2) A political party nominating candidates by party assembly or convention shall nominate the candidates of the party and make such nominations public not later than seventy-five days before the general election.

(3) Whichever method of candidate selection is chosen by a major political party as between primary election, assembly or convention, all of the candidates for that party at any level of office in that election year must be selected by such method, except that the requirements of this provision shall not apply to a primary for president of the united states if such an election is held.

Source: Initiated 2016: Entire section added, Proposition 108, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, December 27, 2016. See L. 2017, p. 2823.

1. Definition for United States

Definition [United States]

Used in the territorial sense, means the several states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. C.R.S. § 1-8.3-102.

2. Definition for Political party

Definition [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.

3. Definition for State

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.

4. Definition for Section

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.

5. Definition for Election

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.

6. Definition for Committee

Definition [Committee]

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

7. Definition for Candidate

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.