(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no earlier than January 1 and no later than the normal close of business on the sixty-seventh day before the date of a regular special district election, any person who desires to be a candidate for the office of a special district director shall file a self-nomination and acceptance form or letter signed by the candidate and by an eligible elector of the state as a witness to the signature of the candidate.
(2) On the date of signing the self-nomination and acceptance form or letter, a candidate for director shall be an eligible elector of the special district. If the district is divided into director districts established pursuant to section 32-1-301 (2)(f), C.R.S., the candidate shall be an eligible elector within the boundaries of the director district in which the candidate is running for office.
(3) The self-nomination and acceptance form or letter must contain the name of the special district in which the election will be held, the county or counties where the special district is located, the special district director office sought by the candidate, the term of office sought if more than one length of a director's term is to be voted upon at the election, the date of the election, the full name of the candidate as it is to appear on the ballot, and whether the candidate is a member of an executive board of a unit owners' association, as defined in section 38-33.3-103, located within the boundaries of the special district for which the candidate is running for office. The candidate and witness must provide their respective residence addresses, including the street number and name, city or town, and county, and telephone numbers, and the candidate must provide a current e-mail address. Unless physically unable, all candidates and witnesses shall sign their own signature and shall print their names and include the date of signature on the self-nomination and acceptance form or letter.
(4) The self-nomination and acceptance form or letter must be filed with the designated election official or, if none has been designated, the presiding officer or the secretary of the board of directors of the special district in which the election will be held.
(5) (a) The self-nomination and acceptance form or letter must be verified and processed substantially as provided in this subsection (5)(a) and subsection (5)(b) of this section, a protest on such a form or letter must be determined substantially as provided in sections 1-4-909 and 1-4-911, and an insufficient form or letter may be cured by submitting an amended self-nomination and acceptance form or letter to the designated election official before the normal close of business on the sixty-seventh day before an election.
(b) Upon filing, the designated election official shall review the information in the self-nomination and acceptance form or letter and verify the information against the registration records, and, where applicable, the county assessor's records.
(c) If, while verifying a signer's information against the registration records in accordance with subsections (5)(a) and (5)(b) of this section, the designated election official finds that the signer provided his or her mailing address rather than his or her residence address as required under subsection (3) of this section, the designated election official may accept the self-nomination form if the designated election official is able to locate the signer's record in the statewide voter registration database and determine that the self-nomination form is otherwise sufficient.
(d) After review, the designated election official shall provide notification of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the candidate.
(6) In a business improvement district with an elected board of directors, nominations for business improvement district directors must be handled substantially as provided in subsections (1) to (5) of this section.
Source: L. 2014: Entire article added, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 13, § 6, effective February 18. L. 2016: (5) amended, (HB 16-1442), ch. 313, p. 1266, § 3, effective August 10. L. 2021: (3) and (5) amended, (SB 21-160), ch. 133, p. 536, § 3, effective September 7.