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 1-2-203 - Registration on Indian reservations

(1)
The secretary or secretary's designee of any tribal council of an Indian tribe located on a federal reservation serves as a deputy registrar only for registration purposes for the county in which the reservation is located. The secretary of the tribal council or the secretary's designee shall register any eligible elector residing in any precinct in the county who provides information sufficient to complete a voter registration application to the secretary of the tribal council at any time during which registration is permitted in the office of the county clerk and recorder. The secretary of the tribal council shall forward the registration records to the county clerk and recorder, either in person or by certified mail, on or before the fifteenth day of each month; except that, within twenty-two days before an election, the secretary of the tribal council shall appear in person or transmit daily to deliver any registration records to the county clerk and recorder. Within eight days before an election, the secretary of the tribal council shall accept an application and inform the applicant that he or she must go to a voter service and polling center in order to vote in that election.
(2)
An eligible elector who lives on an Indian reservation, but who does not have a residence address recognized by the United States postal service, may register to vote using, as his or her residence address, the address of the tribal council headquarters or any other address approved by the secretary of the tribal council.
(3)
The tribe, upon approval from the tribal council, may provide to the secretary of state's office a list of tribal members eligible to vote in an election conducted pursuant to this title 1. The secretary of state and the tribal council must determine and agree upon the format for the tribal membership list. The secretary of state may promulgate rules to effectuate the sharing of this information with the appropriate Colorado counties to register to vote tribal members or update existing registrations of tribal members if the tribal address is more recent than the address on file with the secretary of state for that tribal member. The tribal council may supplement the tribal membership list at any time. Ninety days prior to each general election, the secretary of state must invite, in writing, the tribal council to supplement the tribal membership list, and the tribal council may update the list at its discretion. The tribal membership list may only be used for elections-related purposes.
(4)
Upon receiving an electronic record for an individual who provides documentation that confirms the individual's 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 individual resides. Upon receipt of a record, the county clerk and recorder shall determine if the record is complete for the purposes of voter registration or preregistration.
(5)
If the record is complete for purposes of voter registration or preregistration, the county clerk and recorder shall send to the individual'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 an individual eligible to preregister under section
1-2-101 (2)
, notice that the individual has been preregistered and will be automatically registered upon turning eighteen years of age, and a postage paid pre-addressed return form by which the individual may:
(I)
Decline to be preregistered; or
(II)
Affiliate with a political party.
(6)
If the record is not complete, the county clerk and recorder shall send to the individual's address of record, by nonforwardable mail, notice that the individual has not been registered or preregistered to vote and stating the additional information required to register or preregister. If the individual provides the additional information, the individual is registered or preregistered to vote effective as of the date that the county used the list provided by the secretary of the tribal council to register the individual to vote. If the individual does not provide the additional information necessary to make the individual's application complete and accurate within twenty-four months after the notification is mailed pursuant to this subsection (6), the individual's registration is canceled.
(7)
A notice mailed pursuant to subsection (5) of this section must include an explanation in English of the eligibility requirements to register or preregister to vote, and a statement that, if the individual is not eligible, the individual should decline to register using the pre-addressed return form.
(8)
The notice provided pursuant to subsection (5) of this section must include a statement that, if an individual declines to register or preregister to vote, the declination will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration statistics purposes, and a statement that, if an individual remains registered or preregistered to vote, the office at which the individual was registered or preregistered will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration statistics purposes.
(9)
(a)
(I)
If a notice provided under subsections (5) and (6) of this section is returned as undeliverable within twenty days after the county clerk and recorder mails the notice, the individual's registration or preregistration is canceled and the individual 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 individual's registration or preregistration is marked inactive.
(II)
Notwithstanding subsection (9)(a)(I) of this section, if an individual votes in an election after the transfer of the individual's record but before the notice is returned as undeliverable, the individual's registration shall not be canceled or marked inactive.
(b)
If a notice provided pursuant to subsection (5) of this section is not returned within twenty days, the individual is registered or preregistered as of the date that the county used the list provided by the secretary of the tribal council to register the individual to vote and the individual shall be marked as unaffiliated.
(c)
If an individual returns the form provided pursuant to subsection (5) of this section and declines to be registered or preregistered, including if the individual returns the form and both declines to be registered or preregistered and also affiliates with a party, the individual's registration or preregistration is canceled and the individual is deemed to have never registered or preregistered; except that, if the individual has voted in an election, the return form is of no effect and the individual remains registered as of the date that the county used the list provided by the secretary of the tribal council to register the individual to vote.
(d)
If an individual returns the form provided under subsection (5) of this section and affiliates with a party, the individual is registered or preregistered as of the date that the county used the list provided by the secretary of the tribal council to register the individual to vote and the individual's affiliation shall be marked effective as of the date the affiliation information was received.
(e)
If an individual 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 individual is registered or preregistered as of the date that the county used the list provided by the secretary of the tribal council to register the individual to vote and shall be marked as unaffiliated.
(10)
After the twenty-day period described in subsection (9) of this section passes, the registration information of an individual registered pursuant to this section 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 an individual declining to be registered or preregistered is not a public record subject to public inspection and shall not be used for any purpose other than voter registration statistics.
(11)
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 2023 Ch. 399,§ 3, eff. 6/6/2023.
Amended by 2019 Ch. 326, § 5, eff. 8/2/2019.
Amended by 2016 Ch. 173, § 9, eff. 5/18/2016.
L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 640, § 2, effective 1/1/1993. L. 93: Entire section amended, p. 1398, § 15, effective July 1. L. 2016: Entire section amended, (SB 16-142), ch. 568, p. 568, § 9, effective May 18. L. 2019: Entire section amended, (HB 19-1278), ch. 3006, p. 3006, § 5, effective August 2.
This section is similar to former § 1-2-202.5 as it existed prior to 1992.
For the short title ("Colorado Votes Act") in HB 19-1278, see section 1 of chapter 326, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.