SB 17-209

Senate Bill 17-209 in Colorado makes several changes to how candidates can get on election ballots. It stops election officials from putting unqualified candidates on the ballot and moves up the deadline for political party candidates to submit their petitions. The bill also allows school district director nominees to use a vacancy committee if there's an open position, and it gives petition circulators more time to fix any issues with their paperwork. Since the bill has been signed, these changes are now law and affect how candidates run for office in Colorado.

Official Summary

The bill makes various changes to the laws governing access to the ballot. Section 1 prohibits a designated election official from certifying to the ballot the name of any candidate who the designated election official determines is unqualified to hold office. For a political party candidate seeking to petition onto a ballot, section 2 moves up the deadline by which the petition must be filed. Section 3 allows a petition for nominating a school district director to designate or appoint eligible electors who comprise a vacancy committee. Section 5 adds, to the laws applying to vacancies in nominations, a process by which a vacancy in a school district director nomination is filled by such vacancy committee and specifies how the coordinated election official must proceed given the timing of the original nominee's vacancy. Currently, each petition to nominate a candidate must have attached to it a notarized affidavit executed by the petition circulator. Section 4 directs the secretary of state to establish by rule a process that allows a circulator 5 days to cure a rejected affidavit. Section 5 reorganizes and amends the laws pertaining to withdrawals and vacancies in nominations and designations. Sections 6 through 12 make conforming amendments necessitated by the statutory reorganization effected in section 4.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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