§ C.R.S. § 1-12-108(untitled)

Petition requirements - approval as to form - determination of sufficiency
- protest - offenses. (1) The petition shall be prepared and circulated pursuant to this part 1.
(1.5) No signature shall be counted that was placed on a petition prior to approval as to
form of the petition by the designated election official pursuant to subsection (4) of this section
or more than sixty days after the designated election official's approval as to form of the petition.
(2) (a) The petition for the recall of an elected official may consist of one or more sheets,
to be fastened together in the form of one petition section, but each side of the sheet that contains
signatures of eligible electors shall contain the same heading and each petition section shall
contain one sworn affidavit of the circulator. No petition shall contain the name of more than one
person proposed to be recalled from office.
(b) The petition for recall may be circulated and signed in sections, and each section
must contain a full and accurate copy of the warning as required by subsection (3)(b) of this
section, the title in subsection (3)(c) of this section, the general statement as described in section
1-12-103, the cost estimate required by subsection (3.5) of this section, the statement of the
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incumbent if provided pursuant to subsection (4)(a)(II) of this section, and appropriate columns
or spaces for the information required in subsection (5)(b) of this section. Each petition section
must designate, by name and address, a committee of up to three persons that represents the
signers in all matters affecting the petition.
(3) (a) A petition shall not be certified as sufficient unless it contains the required
number of names of eligible electors. A designated election official shall not count the names of
electors whose names appeared on a previous petition deemed sufficient for the recall of the
same person and office.
(b) At the top of each side of each sheet that contains signatures of eligible electors shall
be printed, in bold-faced type, the following:
WARNING:
IT IS AGAINST THE LAW:
For anyone to sign this petition with any name other than one's own or to knowingly sign
one's name more than once for the same measure or to knowingly sign the petition when
not a registered elector.
Do not sign this petition unless you are an eligible elector. To be an eligible elector you
must be registered to vote and eligible to vote in (name of political subdivision) elections.
Do not sign this petition unless you have read or have had read to you the proposed recall
measure in its entirety and understand its meaning.
(c) Directly following the warning in paragraph (b) of this subsection (3) shall be printed
in bold-faced type the following:
Petition to recall (name of person sought to be recalled) from the office of (title of office).
(3.5) Prior to submitting a printer's proof of a petition for approval as to form, the
committee shall notify the designated election official of the committee's intent to file a petition
for approval as to form. Within three business days of receiving the notice, the designated
election official shall provide the committee with an estimate of the costs of conducting the
recall election. The cost estimate must be included in each petition section circulated.
(4) (a) (I) A petition shall not be circulated until the first printer's proof of the petition
has been submitted to the designated election official and it has been approved as to form as
meeting the requirements of this subsection (4). All sections of the petition must be prenumbered
serially. The official with whom the petitions are to be filed pursuant to section 1-12-107 shall
approve or disapprove a petition as to form by the close of the seventh business day following
submission of the printer's proof of the proposed petition. On the day the designated election
official approves the format, the designated election official shall mail or electronically submit
written notice of the action taken to the committee and to the person whom the petition seeks to
recall.
(II) Immediately upon receiving a printer's proof of a proposed petition for approval as
to form, the designated election official shall notify the incumbent and provide the incumbent
with a copy of the printer's proof. Within three business days of the notification, the incumbent
may submit to the designated election official the statement described in section 1-12-112 (1). If
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the incumbent timely submits the statement, the designated election official shall disapprove the
petition as to form and shall provide the committee with a copy of the incumbent's statement
with the notice of disapproval. The committee may resubmit the printer's proof of the proposed
petition, which must include the incumbent's statement, for approval.
(b) If the form of the petition is not approved as to form, the designated election official
shall provide specific reasons for the disapproval.
(c) Nothing in this section limits the ability of the committee to correct a petition as to
form in accordance with the specific reasons set forth pursuant to paragraph (b) of this
subsection (4) and to submit the corrected petition for review and approval or disapproval in the
same manner as provided in this part 1 for an original submission.
(d) The designated election official shall notify the committee at the time a petition
format is approved that the committee must register an issue committee pursuant to section 1-45108 (3.3) if two hundred or more petition sections are printed or accepted in connection with
circulation of the petition.
(5) (a) Every state petition shall be signed only by eligible electors.
(b) Every petition for a county or school district officer shall be signed only by active
registered electors who are not required to submit a copy of their identification with their mail
ballot under section 1-7.5-107 (3.5).
(c) Unless physically unable, all electors shall sign their own signature and shall print
their names, respective residence addresses, including the street number and name, the city or
town, the county, and the date of signature. Each signature on a petition must be made, to the
extent possible, using a pen. If, while verifying a signer's information against the registration
records in accordance with subsection (8) of this section, the designated election official finds
that the signer provided his or her mailing address rather than his or her residence address, the
designated election official may accept the signature line as valid if the designated election
official is able to locate the signer's record in the statewide voter registration database and
determines that the signer was eligible to sign the petition.
(d) Any person, except a circulator, may assist an elector who is physically unable to
sign the petition in completing the information on the petition as required by law. On the petition
immediately following the name of the elector receiving assistance, the person providing
assistance shall sign, provide the person's address, and state that the assistance was given to the
elector.
(6) (a) No person may circulate a recall petition unless the person is a citizen of the
United States and at least eighteen years of age.
(b) A circulator who is not paid for circulating a recall petition shall display an
identification badge that includes the words "VOLUNTEER CIRCULATOR" in bold-faced type
that is clearly legible.
(c) A circulator who is paid for circulating a recall petition shall display an identification
badge that includes the words "PAID CIRCULATOR" in bold-faced type that is clearly legible
and the name and telephone number of the individual employing the circulator.
(d) The secretary of state shall make available to recall petition circulators the training
developed for petition circulators under section 1-40-112 (3). The recall committee shall inform
paid and volunteer circulators of the availability of this training program as one manner of
complying with the requirement in the circulator's affidavit that a circulator read and understand
the laws pertaining to petition circulation.
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(e) To each petition section must be attached a signed, notarized, and dated affidavit
executed by the person who circulated the petition section that must include the following:
(I) The circulator's printed name, the address at which the circulator resides, including
the street name and number, the city or town, the county, and the date the circulator signed the
affidavit;
(II) That the circulator has read and understands the laws governing the circulation of
recall petitions;
(III) That the circulator was a citizen of the United States and at least eighteen years of
age at the time the section of the petition was circulated;
(IV) That the circulator circulated the section of the petition;
(V) That each signature appearing on the petition was made in the circulator's presence;
(VI) That each signature on the petition is, to the best of the circulator's knowledge, the
signature of the person whose name it purports to be and was made by someone eligible to sign
the recall petition;
(VII) That the circulator has not paid or will not in the future pay and that the circulator
believes that no other person has paid or will pay, directly or indirectly, any money or other
thing of value to any signer for the purpose of inducing or causing such signer to sign the
petition;
(VIII) That the circulator understands that the circulator can be prosecuted for violating
the laws governing the circulation of recall petitions; and
(IX) That the circulator understands that failing to make himself or herself available to
be deposed and to provide testimony in the event of a protest shall invalidate the petition section
if it is challenged on the grounds of circulator fraud.
(f) A notary public shall not notarize an affidavit required by subsection (6)(e) of this
section unless:
(I) The circulator is in the physical presence of the notary public; and
(II) The circulator has dated the affidavit and fully and accurately completed all of the
personal information on the affidavit.
(g) As part of any court proceeding or hearing conducted by the designated election
official related to a protest of all or a part of a petition section, the circulator of such petition
section may be required by the designated election official, hearing officer, or court to make
himself or herself available to be deposed and to testify in person, by telephone, or by any other
means permitted under the Colorado rules of civil procedure. Except as provided in subsection
(6)(h) of this section, the petition section that is the subject of the protest is invalid if a circulator
fails to comply with the requirements set forth in this subsection (6)(g). This section only applies
to a protest that includes an allegation of circulator fraud that is pled with particularity regarding:
(I) Forgery of a registered elector's signature;
(II) Circulation of a petition section, in whole or part, by anyone other than the person
who signed the affidavit attached to the petition section;
(III) Use of a false circulator name or address in the affidavit; or
(IV) Payment of money or other things of value to any person for the purpose of
inducing the person to sign the petition.
(h) If a designated election official, hearing officer, or court finds that the circulator of a
petition section is unable to be deposed or to testify at trial or a hearing because the circulator
has died, become mentally incompetent, or become medically incapacitated and physically
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unable to testify, the provisions of subsection (6)(g) of this section do not apply to invalidate a
petition section circulated by the circulator.
(i) The recall committee shall maintain a list of the names, addresses, and section
numbers circulated for all circulators of the petition and the names and section numbers of the
notaries public who notarized the petition sections. A copy of the list must be filed with the
designated election official along with the petition. If a copy of the list is not filed, the
designated election official shall prepare the list and charge the members of the recall committee
a fee. The fee must be set at an amount that covers the cost of the preparation of the list. Once
filed or prepared by the designated election official, the list is a public record for the purposes of
article 72 of title 24.
(j) The designated election official shall not accept for filing any section of a petition
that does not have attached to it the notarized affidavit required by this section. Any signature
added to a section of a petition after the notarized affidavit has been executed is invalid.
(7) (Deleted by amendment, L. 97, p. 1062, § 5, effective May 27, 1997.)
(7.5) The petition may be filed at any time during the sixty-day period after the
designated election official's approval as to form of the petition as specified in this section. The
committee shall file all sections of a petition simultaneously, and any section of a petition
submitted after the petition is filed is invalid and has no force or effect.
(8) (a) Promptly after the petition has been filed, the designated election official for the
political subdivision shall review all petition information and verify the information against the
registration records. The designated election official shall verify signatures and provide an
opportunity to cure in the same manner as section 1-4-908 (1.5). The secretary of state shall
establish guidelines for verifying petition entries. Within twenty-four hours after the petition is
delivered, the designated election official shall notify the incumbent by mail or e-mail of the