(1) A petition to qualify as a minor political party must be signed by at least ten thousand registered electors and shall be submitted to the secretary of state no later than the close of business on the second Friday in the January of the election year for which the minor political party seeks to qualify.
(2) The petition shall contain the name of the minor political party, and the heading of the petition shall state that the signers thereof desire that it be qualified as a minor political party.
(3) Each registered elector signing a petition pursuant to this section shall print the elector's name and address, including the street and number, if any. There must be attached to each petition an affidavit of a person who is a citizen of the United States and at least eighteen years of age who circulated the petition stating:
(a) The circulator's address;
(b) That the circulator is a citizen of the United States and at least eighteen years of age;
(c) That the circulator circulated the petition;
(d) That each signature on the petition was affixed in the circulator's presence and is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be; and
(e) That, to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief, each of the persons signing the petition was a registered elector at the time of signing.
(4) (a) Upon filing, the secretary of state shall review all petition information and verify the information against the registration records. The secretary of state shall establish guidelines for verifying petition entries.
(b) No later than twenty-one days after receipt of the petition, the secretary of state shall notify the minor political party seeking to qualify of the number of valid signatures and whether the petition appears to be sufficient or insufficient.
(c) Repealed.
(d) Upon determining that the petition is sufficient:
(I) The secretary of state shall notify the minor political party and the clerk and recorder of each county that such party is qualified; and
(II) Eligible electors shall be able to register as affiliated with such minor political party.
Source: L. 98: Entire part added, p. 252, § 1, effective April 13. L. 99: (4)(b) and (4)(c) amended, p. 769, § 35, effective May 20. L. 2003: (1), (2), and (4)(d)(I) amended, p. 1311, § 10, effective April 22. L. 2011: (1) amended, (SB 11-189), ch. 243, p. 1065, § 14, effective May 27. L. 2021: (1) and (3) amended and (4)(c) repealed, (SB 21-250), ch. 282, p. 1644, § 27, effective June 21.
Editor's note: Section 85 of chapter 282 (SB 21-250), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to elections conducted on or after June 21, 2021.
Structure Colorado Code