SB21-250 Elections And Voting (Fenberg (D), Gonzales (D)) [Lontine (D), Caraveo (D)]

PASSED

AMENDED: Minor

Appropriation: $306,500
Fiscal Impact: None

Goal:

Makes numerous changes to state election laws, the most notable around recalls, which the bill brings into line with how most other elections in the state operate, including rules around gathering petitions and post-election audits. The bill does add two new features, that the petition must include the estimated cost of holding the recall election and a statement from the official who the petition wants to recall. The bill also makes a few changes to voter registration, including allowing registration or changes with the last four of a social security number (instead of needing state ID), requiring Medicaid to inform the secretary of state of any address or name changes of an enrollee, and requiring colleges to provide students information on voter registration twice a year. Lots more changes in the Description and Additional Information sections.

Description:

• Requires all recall petitions to include the estimated cost of holding the recall election and a statement from the elected official who the petition is seeking to recall (if they provide one). State will provide the petitioners with the cost within three days of receiving notice of intent to circulate petition. State must send official a copy of the proof of the petition (planned printing) and the official then has three days to provide statement. Requires the risk limiting audits that are performed after all other elections (to ensure accuracy of count) to also be performed after recall elections.
• Makes it illegal for anyone to pay people to collect signatures for a recall of an elected official without first obtaining a license from the state. People who are gathering petitions must wear an identification badge that is clearly legible. Volunteer’s badges say “VOLUNTEER CIRCULATOR” while paid gatherers must have “PAID CIRCULATOR” and the name and phone number of their employer. In either case gatherers must include their name and address on the affidavit they already must submit with the signatures and that the gatherer followed all state laws for petitions (which include gatherer is US citizen over 18, all signatures made in their presence, no signers paid to sign, and all signers eligible to sign best of gatherer’s knowledge). Notaries must notarize the form in person. Committee in charge of recall efforts must keep records of names and addresses of all gatherers and names and section numbers of all notaries used
• Gives the state more time to inspect recall signatures, 28 days up from 15 business days. Specifies petitioners have five days to appeal petitions found insufficient. Allows anyone who signed a petition to withdraw their signature anytime before it is certified (previously was three days after petition was filed) and allows them to be e-mailed. If the petition was found insufficient and is still in the appeals process, the name is to be withdrawn, even if the petition was already certified. Bill gives anyone subject to a successful petition 5 days to resign before an election must be scheduled. Gives candidates looking to run against the elected official more time, 25 days instead of 15 prior to the election to file their candidacy. Requires polling centers to be open for eight hours Monday through Friday and four hours on Saturday during recall elections, with hours from 7 AM to 7 PM on final day of voting. If there is an exact tie in a recall election, the incumbent stays in office
• Requires state Medicaid, subject to compliance with federal law, to provide the secretary of state’s office notice of any change of address or name by anyone enrolled in Medicaid. The secretary of state is to then provide the information to the appropriate county clerk, who must send a notification of the change to the voter with a postage paid preaddressed form for the voter to return to the clerk confirming the change. If the voter responds that the change was an error, it must be reverted
• Requires each institution of higher education in the state to e-mail all of their students information on voter eligibility and how to register to vote or update registration. This must be sent during the first full week of the fall semester and the last full week of the spring semester
• Allows proof of identity for registration to vote or changing registration by providing last four digits of social security number (this replaces need to show state ID). Altered registration form that allows for these digits must inform voter that they will be required to provide copy of ID with their mail ballot when they vote for the first time If the county clerk finds no signature on file, then the record must be approved but a the voter sent a preaddressed return form which they can use to return a signature and information on how to submit a signature electronically. If this notice gets returned by the postal service as undeliverable, the registration or change in status is cancelled
• Moves back deadlines for changing voter registration for primaries from 29 days to 22 days prior to the election. Gives a little more flexibility for primary elections by allowing them to occur anywhere between the first Tuesday and the subsequent Saturday of March (right now must be on that Tuesday). Requires county assemblies to be held at the most 21 days after precinct caucuses (now is 25) and allows them to both be held on the same day if permitted by party rules. Must notify the secretary of state if a party is going to do this
• Adds some considerations to how many voter service and polling locations to place in the state, including if a proposed location was used in a previous election, number of voters who used it and the recorded wait times and need to place centers in population areas that had low turnout in previous elections. Requires each county to solicit public comment on their proposed drop box and voter center locations, request for comment along with proposed locations must be up on the county website at least 55 days before the deadline for the county to submit their election plan to the state. Comments must be accepted up until 40 days before the deadline
• Bans electioneering or wearing of materials that promote or oppose a candidate or ballot issue while serving as an election judge
• Requires all drop boxes in the state to remain open until after every voter who was in line at 7 PM on election day at the box has deposited their ballot
• Requires each county to try to coordinate with local sheriff at each jail or detention center in the county to facilitate voting for all eligible voters. This coordination plan must be included in the election plan submitted by the county to the state
• Allows voters to request an emergency replacement ballot if they or a member of their immediate family is confined in a hospital or place of residence on election day or they cannot vote in-person on election day due to emergency conditions that arose after the mail ballot request deadline or their mail ballot did not arrive and they will be out-of-state on election day, or they had arranged to receive their ballot in a temporary location and didn’t get it. This emergency request must be made by 5 PM on election day and can designate someone else to pick up the ballot for the voter. Such a person must sign for the ballot and provide their own name and address
• Widens where a voter can return a replacement ballot by also allowing voter and service centers, drop boxes, or drop off locations (currently is just clerk’s office)
• Bans challenging mail votes solely on the basis of their signature (all signature are already checked for matches)
• Repeals ability for unaffiliated candidates to make the ballot for president by paying a fee (has to meet signature requirements instead)

Additional Information:

Arguments For:

Bottom Line:

• There’s a lot here but much of it is simple clean-up work and tweaks that aren’t worth going into detail over. The biggest part of the bill is overhauling recall elections so that they more closely resemble other elections in the state, from the requirements on petition gatherers to the post-election audit. Almost all of those details are simply about making these elections like all others we have in the state with the same rules for petitioning. The big differences are requiring the cost of the election to be included in the petition and the statement from the official. The cost part is simple: elections actually cost a lot of money to operate and we want to be sure someone signing a petition like this understands the bill they are handing the entire state. No one really serious about recalling an elected official will flinch at the price tag. The statement from the official provides a simple mechanism for them to defend themselves. Remember that most people who see these petitions aren’t reading Engage bill summaries and probably don’t know much about any of these people. False information breeds easiest in such an environment
• For the changes around voter registration, this follows in the tradition of making it easy to vote in Colorado (where it is important to remember, despite a lot of people trying really hard to find it, we’ve had single digit cases of real voter fraud), in particular young voters who make a driver’s license, those at college campuses, and people in the Medicaid system

Arguments Against:

Bottom Line:

• The bill is trying to put a thumb on the scales for recall petitions with the two additions that aren’t a part of other petitions processes. First, the cost is a great scare tactic that doesn’t contextualize it within the budgeting process of a $30 billion plus annual state budget. Second, the bill gives the elected official a complete preview of exactly what the recall petition will look like and then a chance to give a targeted rebuttal with no real guidance or guardrails on the process. There’s been a lot of noise about recalls lately for sure, but we haven’t actually gotten many in awhile and this may be a solution in search of a problem
• The voter registration changes are part of making it too easy, which doesn’t have to do with voter access but with preventing voter fraud and registration fraud. We also don’t need college campuses doing state-mandated get-out-the-vote work
• The sections on emergency ballots seem potentially unworkable, with a clerk scrambling to get an emergency ballot out on election day, and not even to the person who actually requested it. Too ripe for abuse