2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 1 - ELECTIONS (§§ 1-1-101 — 1-46-106) › GENERAL, PRIMARY, RECALL, AND CONGRESSIONAL VACANCY ELECTIONS (§§ 1-1-101 — 1-17-101) › Article 2 - QUALIFICATIONS AND REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS (§§ 1-2-101 — 1-2-703) › Part 2 - REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS (§§ 1-2-201 — 1-2-229) › Section 1-2-213.3 - Transfer of new voter registration records from department of revenue

(1)
(a)
In addition to the requirements of section
1-2-213
for registered electors, the department of revenue shall provide to the secretary of state, on a schedule established by the secretary of state, electronic records containing the full name, date of birth, residence address, deliverable mailing address if different from the residence address, county of residence, citizenship information for, and an electronic copy of the signature of each unregistered elector and each person eligible to preregister in accordance with section
1-2-101 (2)
who provides a document that demonstrates United States citizenship and who applies for the issuance, renewal, or correction of any type of driver's license or identification card pursuant to part 3 of article
2
of title
42
; except that the department of state shall not use the record of an individual who applies for or renews an identification document under part 5 of article
2
of title
42
or the record of a person who is a program participant in the "Address Confidentiality Program Act", part 21 of article
30
of title
24
, for voter registration purposes.
(b)
The department of revenue shall continue to offer any person not registered to vote pursuant to subsection (2) of this section an opportunity to register to vote pursuant to section
1-2-213
, unless they have provided documentation demonstrating a lack of United States citizenship.
(2)
Upon receiving an electronic record for an individual who provided documentation that confirmed his or her citizenship and contains the minimum information to register the individual to vote, the secretary of state shall provide the information to the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the person resides. Upon receipt of a record, the county clerk and recorder shall determine if the record is complete for the purposes of voter registration.
(3)
If the record is complete for purposes of voter registration or preregistration, the county clerk and recorder shall send to the person's address of record, by nonforwardable mail:
(a)
If the record is for an eligible elector, notice that the elector has been registered to vote and a postage paid pre-addressed return form by which the elector may:
(I)
Decline to be registered as an elector; or
(II)
Affiliate with a political party; and
(b)
If the record is for a person eligible to preregister under section
1-2-101 (2)
, notice that the person has been preregistered and will be automatically registered upon turning eighteen years of age, and a postage paid preaddressed return form by which the person may:
(I)
Decline to be preregistered; or
(II)
Affiliate with a political party.
(4)
If the record is not complete, the county clerk and recorder shall send to the person's address of record, by nonforwardable mail, notice that the person has not been registered or preregistered to vote and stating the additional information required to register or preregister. If the person provides the additional information, the person is registered or preregistered to vote effective as of the date of the person's application with the department of revenue. If the person does not provide the additional information necessary to make his or her application complete and accurate within twenty-four months after the notification is mailed pursuant to this subsection (4), the person's registration is canceled.
(5)
A notice mailed under subsection (3) of this section must include an explanation, in both English and Spanish, of the eligibility requirements to register or preregister to vote, and a statement that, if the person is not eligible, the person should decline to register using the preaddressed return form.
(6)
The notice provided under subsection (3) of this section must include a statement that, if the person declines to register or preregister to vote, the fact that the person has declined will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration statistics purposes, and a statement that, if a person remains registered or preregistered to vote, the office at which the person was registered or preregistered will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration statistics purposes.
(7)
(a)
(I)
If a notice provided under subsections (3) and (4) of this section is returned as undeliverable within twenty days after the county clerk and recorder mails the notice, the person's registration or preregistration is canceled and the person is deemed to have never registered or preregistered. If the notice is returned as undeliverable after twenty days after the county clerk and recorder mails the notice, the person's registration or preregistration is marked inactive.
(II)
Notwithstanding subsection (7)(a)(I) of this section, if a person votes in an election after the transfer of the person's record but before the notice is returned as undeliverable, the person's registration shall not be canceled or marked inactive.
(b)
If a notice provided under subsection (3) of this section is not returned within twenty days, the person is registered or preregistered as of the date of the person's application at the department of revenue and the person shall be marked as unaffiliated.
(c)
If a person returns the form provided under subsection (3) of this section and declines to be registered or preregistered, including if the person returns the form and both declines to be registered or preregistered and also affiliates with a party, the person's registration or preregistration is canceled and the person is deemed to have never registered or preregistered; except that, if the person has voted in an election, the return form is of no effect and the person remains registered as of the date of the person's application with the department of revenue.
(d)
If a person returns the form provided under subsection (3) of this section and affiliates with a party, the person is registered or preregistered as of the date of the person's application with the department of revenue and the person's affiliation shall be marked effective as of the date the affiliation information was received.
(e)
If a person returns the form without marking either the option to decline or the option to affiliate with a party, the returned form is of no effect. The person is registered or preregistered as of the date of the person's application with the department of revenue and shall be marked as unaffiliated.
(8)
After the twenty-day period described in subsection (7) of this section passes, the registration information of a person registered pursuant to this section, including the fact that the person was registered through a voter registration agency, becomes a registration record that must be maintained and made available for public inspection in accordance with section
1-2-227
. Information relating to the return of a notice form by a person declining to be registered or preregistered and information relating to the specific agency at which a person was registered pursuant to this section is not a public record subject to public inspection and shall not be used for any purpose other than voter registration statistics.
(9)
This section does not preclude the state from complying with its obligations under the federal "National Voter Registration Act of 1993",
52 U.S.C. sec. 20501
et seq., as amended; the federal "Voting Rights Act of 1965",
52 U.S.C. sec. 10101
et seq., as amended; the federal "Help America Vote Act of 2002",
52 U.S.C. sec. 20901
et seq., as amended; or any other applicable federal laws.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 282, § 5, eff. 6/21/2021.
Amended by 2020 Ch. 216, § 1, eff. 6/30/2020.
Added by 2019 Ch. 329, § 1, eff. 7/1/2020.
L. 2019: Entire section added, (SB 19-235), ch. 3048, p. 3048, § 1, effective 7/1/2020. L. 2020: (7)(a)(I) amended, (HB 20-1402), ch. 1040, p. 1040, § 1, effective June 30.
Section 85 of chapter 282 (SB 21-250), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to elections conducted on or after June 21, 2021.