HB 24-1145

House Bill 24-1145 requires Colorado's Secretary of State to update the voter registration page on their official website by July 1, 2024. This update will allow voters to confirm their mailing address, choose whether they want a mail ballot or in-person voting, and select which party’s primary election ballot they prefer. The bill also mandates that voters must log into this updated site at least once during each election cycle to verify their information and make these choices, with the default set for in-person voting unless changed by the voter. If voters don’t update their preferences, they will automatically be assigned to vote in person without receiving a mail ballot. The bill aims to reduce unnecessary costs associated with mailing unused ballots and directs savings towards programs that help combat food insecurity among children. Since it has been signed into law, these changes are now set to take effect as planned.

Official Summary

By July 1, 2024, the secretary of state is required to include, on the voter registration page on the secretary of state's official website (website), places for a registered elector to: Confirm the registered elector's mailing address; Select whether to receive a mail ballot or to vote in person; and Select which major political party's ballot to receive for a primary election. The secretary of state is required to ensure that the default selection for every registered elector for each election is to vote in person. The secretary of state is required to add a notice to the website to explain the costs incurred in sending mail ballots to registered electors, and the amount of taxpayer money that is wasted by sending mail ballots that will not be used. On or after July 1, 2024, every registered elector is required to access the registered elector's voter registration through the website at least one time during each election cycle to verify the registered elector's address and make the selections regarding the registered elector's voting and ballot preference (selections). Each registered elector is required to make the selections only once for an election cycle but may alter the selections as many times as the registered elector wishes prior to specified elections. The secretary of state is required to allow electors who first register to vote on or after July 1, 2024, to make selections when registering to vote. If a registered elector does not make the selections for an election cycle, the registered elector is presumed to have opted to vote in person and the registered elector will not receive a mail ballot. The secretary of state and the designated election official in each county (election official) are required to provide written notice, in specified places, of the requirements that a registered elector confirm the registered elector's address and make the selections. For the 2024-2025 state fiscal year and for each state fiscal year thereafter, the staff of the joint budget committee of the general assembly is required to determine whether there is a reduction as a result of the bill, compared to the previous fiscal year, in the amount appropriated to the department of state to reimburse counties for the costs of conducting elections. The general assembly is required to appropriate an amount equal to 50% of any such reduction for programs that combat food vulnerability among children in the state. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)