Colorado Legislative Council Staff

NO FISCAL IMPACT

TITLE:            CONCERNING THE NOMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY CANDIDATES FOR ELECTED OFFICE.

Summary of Assessment

            The bill would eliminate the party affiliation requirement for voting the partisan nomination process. The percent of votes that a candidate must receive at a party assembly in order to be placed on the primary ballot would change from 30 percent to 20 percent. The signature requirements for candidates to petition onto primary ballots would change. Various nominating petition deadlines for primary elections would change as would dates for curing insufficient petitions. The changes are as follows:

            •   The earliest date a party candidate may begin to circulate a petition for a primary election would change from the first Monday in the April, to 175 days before the primary;

            •   Candidate petitions for a primary would change from 66 days before the primary to 100 days before the primary;

            •   The election official with whom a petition is filed would determine the sufficiency and notify the candidate of the determination no later than the 92 days before the primary;

            •   An insufficient petition could be amended once, no later than 3:00 p.m., 85 days before the primary; and

            •   An election official would notify the petition candidate of the determination no later than the 78 days before the primary.

            It would also allow for a protest against a finding that an amended party candidate nomination petition is insufficient. The bill would become effective 90 days after the session ends or after an election.

            The bill impacts the nominating process for political party candidates. This process would not change the workload for election officers. Therefore, this bill is assessed as having no fiscal impact.

Departments Contacted

            Secretary of State