C.R.S. Section 1-4-802
Petitions for nominating minor political party and unaffiliated candidates for a partisan office

(1)

Candidates for partisan public offices to be filled at a general or congressional vacancy election who do not wish to affiliate with a major political party may be nominated, other than by a primary election or a convention, in the following manner:

(a)

A petition for nominating minor political party or unaffiliated candidates shall be prepared, indicating the name and address of any candidate for the office to be filled. The petition shall indicate the name of the minor political party or designate in not more than three words the political or other name selected by the signers to identify an unaffiliated candidate. No name of any political party shall be used, in whole or in part, to identify an unaffiliated candidate.

(b)

Each petition must contain only the name of one candidate for one office; except that any petition for a candidate for president of the United States must also include a candidate for vice president, and a candidate for governor must also include a candidate for lieutenant governor, and together they shall be considered joint candidates at the general election. In the case of nominations for president and vice president of the United States, the joint candidates shall submit a list of presidential electors endorsed by the electors, and the names of the presidential electors must be added to the petition.

(c)

Every petition for the office of president and vice president, for statewide office, for congressional district office, for the office of member of the general assembly, for district attorney, and for county office must be signed by eligible electors residing within the district or political subdivision in which the officer is to be elected. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, the number of signatures of eligible electors on a petition is as follows:

(I)

At least one thousand five hundred in each congressional district for the office of president and vice president;

(II)

Intentionally left blank —Ed.

(A)

At least one thousand in each congressional district for the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, or treasurer, or the office of United States senator;

(B)

At least five hundred in each congressional district for the office of an at-large seat on either the state board of education or the board of regents of the university of Colorado;

(III)

The lesser of one thousand five hundred or two and one-half percent of the votes cast in the congressional district in the most recent general election for the office of member of the United States house of representatives, member of the state board of education for a congressional district, or member of the board of regents of the university of Colorado for a congressional district;

(IV)

The lesser of one thousand or three and one-third percent of the votes cast in the senate district in the most recent general election for the office of member of the state senate;

(V)

The lesser of one thousand or five percent of votes cast in the house district in the most recent general election for the office of member of the state house of representatives;

(VI)

The lesser of one thousand or three percent of the votes cast in the district in the most recent general election for the office of district attorney; and

(VII)

The lesser of one thousand or two percent of the votes cast for all candidates for that office in the most recent general election for any county office.

(d)

Intentionally left blank —Ed.

(I)

No petition to nominate an unaffiliated candidate, except petitions for candidates for vacancies to unexpired terms of representatives in congress and for presidential electors, shall be circulated or any signatures obtained thereon earlier than one hundred seventy-three days before the general election.

(II)

No petition to nominate a minor political party candidate shall be circulated nor any signatures obtained thereon earlier than the first Monday in February in the general election year.

(e)

The petition to nominate an unaffiliated candidate may designate or appoint upon its face one or more unaffiliated registered electors as a committee to fill vacancies in accordance with section 1-4-1008. However, in the case of a petition for the office of state senator or state representative, the petition shall designate or appoint upon its face three or more unaffiliated registered electors as a committee to fill vacancies in accordance with sections 1-4-1008 and 1-12-203.

(f)

Intentionally left blank —Ed.

(I)

Except as provided by subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (f), petitions shall be filed no later than 3 p.m. on the one hundred seventeenth day before the general election or, for a congressional vacancy election, no later than 3 p.m. on the twentieth day after the date of the order issued by the governor.

(II)

Petitions to nominate candidates of minor political parties must be filed no later than the close of business on the eighty-fifth day before the primary election as specified in section 1-4-101.

(g)

Intentionally left blank —Ed.

(I)

For congressional vacancy elections, no person shall be placed in nomination by petition unless the person is an eligible elector and was registered as affiliated with a minor political party or as unaffiliated, as shown in the statewide voter registration system, for at least twelve months prior to the last date the petition may be filed.

(II)

For general elections, no person shall be placed in nomination by petition unless the person is an eligible elector of the political subdivision or district in which the officer is to be elected and unless the person was registered as affiliated with a minor political party or as unaffiliated, as shown in the statewide voter registration system, no later than the first business day of the January immediately preceding the general election for which the person desires to be placed in nomination; except that, if such nomination is for a nonpartisan election, the person shall be an eligible elector of the political subdivision or district and be a registered elector, as shown in the statewide voter registration system, on the date of the earliest signature on the petition.

(2)

Where the electors of the county have voted to increase the membership of the board of county commissioners from three to five pursuant to section 30-10-306.5, C.R.S., or to decrease the membership of the board from five to three pursuant to section 30-10-306.7, C.R.S., for the next two general elections immediately following an election at which the voters have approved a change in the membership of the board, the signature requirements for the petition to select candidates who do not wish to affiliate with a major political party are as follows:

(a)

Where any one or more commissioners to be elected to the board of county commissioners will be voted on by voters of the whole county, every petition must require signers equal in number to the lesser of either seven hundred fifty signers or two percent of the average of all votes cast in each county commissioner district for which there was a race on the ballot during the most recent general election;

(b)

Where any one or more commissioners to be elected to the board of county commissioners will be voted on only by the electors residing in a particular county commissioner district, every petition must require signers equal in number to the lesser of either:

(I)

Seven hundred fifty signers; or

(II)

The number realized by first determining two percent of the average of all votes cast in each county commissioner district for which there was a race on the ballot during the most recent general election, and then dividing that number by the total number of commissioner districts in the county where commissioners are voted on only by the electors residing in a district, whether three or five.

(3)

Following the first two general elections that are conducted after a change in the membership of the board of county commissioners pursuant to section 30-10-306.5 or 30-10-306.7, C.R.S., the signature requirements for a petition for a county commissioner candidate who does not wish to affiliate with a major political party must follow the procedures specified in subparagraph (VI) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section.

Source: Section 1-4-802 — Petitions for nominating minor political party and unaffiliated candidates for a partisan office, https://leg.­colorado.­gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2023-title-01.­pdf (accessed Oct. 20, 2023).

1‑4‑101
Primary elections - when - nominations - expenses 1‑4‑102
Methods of placing names on primary ballot 1‑4‑103
Order of names on primary ballot 1‑4‑104
Party nominees 1‑4‑104.5
Primary election canceled - when 1‑4‑105
Defeated candidate ineligible 1‑4‑201
Time of holding general election 1‑4‑202
United States senators 1‑4‑203
Representatives in congress 1‑4‑204
State and district officers 1‑4‑205
County commissioners 1‑4‑206
Other county officers 1‑4‑301
Time of holding presidential elections 1‑4‑302
Party nominations to be made by convention 1‑4‑304
Presidential electors 1‑4‑305
Compensation 1‑4‑401
Time of congressional vacancy elections 1‑4‑401.5
Special congressional vacancy election - continuity in representation - rules 1‑4‑402
Nominations of political party candidates 1‑4‑403
Nomination of unaffiliated candidates for congressional vacancy election 1‑4‑404
Nomination and acceptance of candidate 1‑4‑501
Only eligible electors eligible for office 1‑4‑502
Methods of nomination for partisan candidates 1‑4‑503
Method of nomination for nonpartisan candidates 1‑4‑504
Documents are public records 1‑4‑601
Designation of candidates for primary election - definition 1‑4‑602
Delegates to party assemblies - definition 1‑4‑603
Designation of major political party candidates by petition 1‑4‑604
Filing of petitions and certificates of designation by assembly - legislative declaration 1‑4‑605
Order of names on primary ballot 1‑4‑701
Party nominations to be made by convention 1‑4‑702
Nominations of candidates for general election by convention 1‑4‑801
Designation of party candidates by petition 1‑4‑802
Petitions for nominating minor political party and unaffiliated candidates for a partisan office 1‑4‑803
Petitions for nominating school district directors 1‑4‑805
Petitions for nominating municipal candidates in coordinated elections 1‑4‑806
Preregistrants eligible to sign petitions 1‑4‑901
Designation of petition 1‑4‑902
Form of petition 1‑4‑903
Approval of petition 1‑4‑904
Signatures on the petitions 1‑4‑905
Circulators - requirements - affidavits - notarization - training 1‑4‑905.5
Petition entities - requirements - violations - definitions 1‑4‑906
Candidate’s acceptance 1‑4‑907
Filing of petition 1‑4‑908
Review of petition - signature verification - notification - cure - rules 1‑4‑909
Protest of designations and nominations 1‑4‑911
Review of a protest 1‑4‑912
Cure - rules 1‑4‑1001
Withdrawal or disqualification from candidacy 1‑4‑1002
Vacancies in major party designation up to the sixty-eighth day before primary election day 1‑4‑1003
Vacancies in major party designation occurring between the sixty-seventh day before a primary election and the earliest day to mail primary election ballots 1‑4‑1004
Vacancies in major party designation occurring from the day after the earliest day to mail primary election ballots through primary election day 1‑4‑1005
Vacancies in major party nomination occurring from the day after primary election day through the earliest day to mail general election ballots 1‑4‑1006
Vacancies in major party nomination occurring from the day after the earliest day to mail general election ballots through general election day 1‑4‑1007
Vacancies in minor party designation or nomination 1‑4‑1008
Vacancies in unaffiliated designation or nomination 1‑4‑1009
Vacancies in school district director nomination 1‑4‑1010
Vacancies in office occurring from the sixty-eighth day prior to primary election day through the earliest day to mail general election ballots 1‑4‑1011
Vacancies of joint gubernatorial candidates - process for filling vacancy in nomination for office of lieutenant governor 1‑4‑1012
Remote participation in vacancy committee meetings 1‑4‑1101
Write-in candidate affidavit of intent 1‑4‑1102
Time of filing affidavit 1‑4‑1103
Write-in votes for governor, president 1‑4‑1201
Declaration 1‑4‑1202
Definitions 1‑4‑1203
Presidential primary elections - when - conduct 1‑4‑1204
Names on ballots 1‑4‑1205
Write-in candidate affidavit for presidential primary 1‑4‑1206
Presidential primary ballots - survey of returns 1‑4‑1207
Election results - certification - pledging of delegates 1‑4‑1301
Formation of minor political party 1‑4‑1302
Petition to qualify as a minor political party 1‑4‑1303
Qualifications to nominate by constitution or bylaws 1‑4‑1304
Nomination of candidates 1‑4‑1305
Disqualification of minor political party 1‑4‑1401
Legislative declaration 1‑4‑1402
Applicability of part 1‑4‑1403
Referral of question in single-county judicial districts 1‑4‑1404
Referral of question in multiple-county judicial districts 1‑4‑1405
Coordinated or general election ballot 1‑4‑1406
County clerk and recorder designated election official - certification of results to secretary of state 1‑4‑1407
Initiative - petition 1‑4‑1408
Prior actions not affected
Green check means up to date. Up to date

Current through Fall 2024

§ 1-4-802’s source at colorado​.gov