TrustVoting Atlas

(1) Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, no natural person who is not a citizen of the United States, foreign
government, or foreign corporation may expend money on an independent expenditure in
connection with an election of a candidate in the state, and no independent expenditure
committee may knowingly accept a donation from any natural person who is not a citizen of the
United States, any foreign government, or any foreign corporation.
(2) In accordance with the decision of the supreme court of Colorado in the case of In re
Interrogatories Propounded by Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., Concerning the Effect of Citizens
United v. Federal Election Comm'n, 558 U.S. ___ (2010), on Certain Provisions of Article
XXVIII of the Constitution of the State of Colorado, 227 P.3d 892 (Colo. 2010), notwithstanding
sections 3 (4)(a) and 6 (2) of article XXVIII of the state constitution, corporations and labor
organizations shall not be prohibited from making independent expenditures. All such
expenditures shall be disclosed in accordance with the requirements of this article and article
XXVIII of the state constitution. For purposes of this article and article XXVIII of the state
constitution, any use of the word "person" shall be construed to include, without limitation, any
corporation or labor organization.
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(3) (a) Any person that accepts a donation that is given for the purpose of making an
independent expenditure in excess of one thousand dollars or that makes an independent
expenditure in excess of one thousand dollars shall register with the appropriate officer within
two business days of the date on which an aggregate amount of donations accepted or
expenditures made reaches or exceeds one thousand dollars.
(b) The registration required by paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) shall include a
statement listing:
(I) The person's full name, spelling out any acronyms used therein;
(II) A natural person authorized to act as a registered agent;
(III) A street address and telephone number for the principal place of operations; and
(IV) The aggregate ownership interest in the person held by foreign persons calculated
as of the time the person registers with the appropriate officer under paragraph (a) of this
subsection (3).
(c) If the person identified in subparagraph (I) of paragraph (b) of this subsection (3) is a
corporation, a subsidiary may register on behalf of its parent corporation or for other subsidiaries
of the parent corporation, and the parent corporation may register on behalf of all of its
subsidiaries. In each such case, the registered agent of the person registering shall serve as the
registered agent for all such affiliated corporations. Registration of a subsidiary shall include the
name of its parent corporation as well as any names under which the subsidiary does business.
(d) If the person identified in subparagraph (I) of paragraph (b) of this subsection (3) is a
labor organization, a local labor organization may register on behalf of any affiliated local,
national, or international labor organization that will be making independent expenditures, and a
national or international labor organization may register on behalf of any affiliated local labor
organization that will be making independent expenditures. In each such case, the registered
agent of the labor organization that is registering shall serve as the registered agent for each
affiliated local, national, or international labor organization.
(4) (a) In addition to any other applicable disclosure requirements specified in this article
or in article XXVIII of the state constitution, any person making an independent expenditure in
an aggregate amount in excess of one thousand dollars in any one calendar year shall report the
following to the appropriate officer:
(I) The person's full name, or, if the person is a subsidiary of a parent corporation, the
full name of the parent corporation, spelling out any acronyms used therein;
(II) All names under which the person does business in the state if such names are
different from the name identified pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a);
(III) The address of the home office of the person, or, if the person is a subsidiary of a
parent corporation, the home office of the parent corporation; and
(IV) The name and street address in the state of its registered agent.
(b) (I) Any person who expends an aggregate amount in excess of one thousand dollars
or more per calendar year for the purpose of making an independent expenditure shall report to
the appropriate officer, in accordance with the requirements of this section, the name and address
of any person that, for the purpose of making an independent expenditure, donates more than
two hundred fifty dollars per year to the person expending one thousand dollars or more on an
independent expenditure.
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(II) If the person making the donation of two hundred fifty dollars or more is a natural
person, the disclosure required by subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (b) shall also include the
donor's occupation and employer.
(III) If the person making the donation of two hundred fifty dollars or more is not a
natural person, the disclosure required by this paragraph (b) shall also include:
(A) The donor's full name, or, if the donor is a subsidiary of a parent corporation, the full
name of the parent corporation, spelling out any acronyms used therein;
(B) All names under which the donor does business in the state if such names are
different from the name identified pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (b);
(C) The address of the home office of the donor, or, if the donor is a subsidiary of a
parent corporation, the home office of the parent corporation; and
(D) The name and street address in the state of the donor's registered agent.
(c) The information required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection
(4) must be reported in accordance with the schedule specified in section 1-45-108 (2) for
political committees; except that any person making an independent expenditure in excess of one
thousand dollars within thirty days before a primary, general, or regular biennial school election
shall provide such report within forty-eight hours after obligating moneys for the independent
expenditure.
(5) (a) In addition to any other applicable requirements provided by law, and subject to
the provisions of this section, any communication that is broadcast, printed, mailed, delivered;
placed on a website, streaming media service, or online forum for a fee; or that is otherwise
distributed that constitutes an independent expenditure for which the person making the
independent expenditure expends in excess of one thousand dollars on the communication shall
include in the communication a statement that:
(I) The communication has been "paid for by (full name of the person paying for the
communication)"; and
(II) Identifies a natural person who is the registered agent if the person identified in
subsection (5)(a)(I) of this section is not a natural person.
(b) In the case of a broadcast or online video or audio communication, the statement
required by subsection (5)(a) of this section shall satisfy all applicable requirements promulgated
by the federal communications commission for size, duration, and placement.
(c) In the case of a nonbroadcast communication, including an online communication,
the secretary of state shall, by rule, establish size and placement requirements for the disclaimer
statement. If the size, format, or display requirements of the communication make it
impracticable to include a disclaimer statement on the communication, the rules must require
that the disclaimer statement be available by means of a direct link from the communication to
the web page or application screen containing the statement.
(6) Any person that expends an aggregate amount in excess of one thousand dollars on
an independent expenditure in any one calendar year shall deliver written notice to the
appropriate officer that shall list with specificity the name of the candidate whom the
independent expenditure is intended to support or oppose. Where the independent expenditure is
made within thirty days before a primary, general, or regular biennial school election, the notice
required by this subsection (6) must be delivered within forty-eight hours after the person
obligates moneys for the independent expenditure.
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(7) Any person that accepts any donation that is given for the purpose of making an
independent expenditure or expends any moneys on an independent expenditure in an aggregate
amount in excess of one thousand dollars in any one calendar year shall establish a separate
account in a financial institution, and the title of the account shall indicate that it is used for such
purposes. All such donations accepted by such person for the making of any such independent
expenditures shall only be deposited into the account, and any moneys expended for the making
of such independent expenditure shall only be withdrawn from the account. As long as the
person uses a separate account for the purposes of this subsection (7), in any complaint relating
to the use of the person's account, no discovery may be made of information relating to the
identity of the person's members and general donors and any discovery is limited to the sources,
amounts, and uses of donations deposited into and expenditures withdrawn from the account.
(8) Any person that expends moneys on an independent expenditure in excess of one
thousand dollars, regardless of the medium of the communication produced by the expenditure,
shall disclose to the secretary of state, in accordance with the schedule specified in section 1-45108 (2) for political committees, any donation in excess of twenty dollars given in that reporting
period for the purpose of making an independent expenditure.
(9) Repealed.
(10) Any earmarked donation given for the purpose of making an independent
expenditure in excess of one thousand dollars shall be disclosed as a donation from both the
original source of the donation and the person transferring the donation.
(11) On reports it files with the appropriate official, an independent expenditure
committee that obligates in excess of one thousand dollars for an independent expenditure shall
disclose a good faith estimate of the fair market value of the expenditure if the committee does
not know the actual amount of the expenditure as of the date that a report is required to be filed
with the appropriate official.
(12) All information required to be disclosed to the secretary of state under this section
shall be posted on the website of the secretary within two business days after its receipt by the
secretary.
(13) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any requirement contained in
this section that is applicable to a corporation shall also be applicable to a labor organization.
(14) (a) Any covered organization that contributes, donates, or transfers ten thousand
dollars or more to any person, earmarked for the purpose of making an independent expenditure
or electioneering communication, during any one calendar year, shall provide to the recipient of
the contribution, donation, or transfer an affirmation, in writing, that includes the information
listed in subsection (14)(d) of this section. After reaching the ten thousand dollar threshold, the
covered organization shall provide a new affirmation statement for each qualifying subsequent
contribution, donation, or transfer during that calendar year.
(b) Any covered organization that transfers ten thousand dollars or more to any person,
earmarked for the purpose of that person making a contribution, donation, or transfer to pay for
an independent expenditure or electioneering communication, during any one calendar year,
shall provide to the recipient of the transfer an affirmation, in writing, that includes the
information listed in subsection (14)(d) of this section. After reaching the ten thousand dollar
threshold, the covered organization shall provide a new affirmation statement for each qualifying
subsequent transfer during that calendar year.
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(c) A person shall not accept a contribution, donation, or transfer as described in
subsection (14)(a) or (14)(b) of this section from a covered organization unless the covered
organization provides a written affirmation to the recipient satisfying the requirements of
subsection (14)(d) of this section. The recipient shall include the written affirmation when
reporting the independent expenditure or electioneering communication to the appropriate filing
officer and shall retain the written affirmation for not less than one year following the date of the
end of the election cycle during which the affirmation was received.
(d) The affirmation required by this subsection (14) must include:
(I) The name of the covered organization and its principal place of business;
(II) The amount of the contribution, donation, or transfer and the name of the person
who received the contribution, donation, or transfer;
(III) (A) If the covered organization is a for-profit corporation, each beneficial owner's
name and current residence or business address and, if a listed beneficial owner exercises control
over the entity through another legal entity, such as a corporation, partnership, limited liability
company, or trust, each such other legal entity and each such beneficial owner who will use that
other entity to exercise control over the entity.
(B)
For purposes of this subsection (14)(d)(III), "beneficial owner" means a
corporation's officers, directors, and owners of more than five percent of the corporation.
(IV) (A) If the cov