Colorado Secretary of State’s Office Permanently Adopts New and Revised Election Rules, Temporarily Adopts Subset of Rules with Immediate Effect

Denver, September 22, 2023 - The Secretary of State’s Office has permanently adopted new rules to implement Senate Bill 23-276 (Modifications To Laws Regarding Elections) and ensure Colorado’s elections continue to set the highest standards of security, transparency, and accessibility. This broad package of new and amended rules underscores the continuous improvement the Secretary of State’s Office uses to ensure Colorado has the most effective elections administration in the country.

A public rulemaking hearing was held on Thursday, August 3, 2023, at 1 p.m. to receive testimony concerning the preliminary draft of permanent rules. This hearing was conducted in-person and via webinar.

Highlights of the permanently adopted rules are detailed below. Highlights beginning with a double asterisk (**) have also been adopted on a temporary basis with immediate effect so that county clerks, watchers, and the general public are provided with the rules necessary to comply with state and federal law in the 2023 Coordinated Election.

Maintaining High Levels of Surveillance and Security of Drop Boxes, Secure Areas, and Voting Equipment

• **New Rule 20.4.2(e) requires county clerks to submit a detailed plan to the Secretary of State’s Office in the event of necessary maintenance of video surveillance. The plan must include security measures that the clerk will take to ensure the security of voting system components or secure areas during planned maintenance.
• Amendments to Rule 20.4.3 add specific access and security log requirements for locations where components of a voting system are stored.
• Amendments to Rule 20.5.4 require county clerks to submit a detailed plan to the Secretary of State’s Office for planned transport of a voting system from a county election facility to another location. The plan must include security measures the clerk will take to ensure the security of the voting system components during transit.
• **Amendments to Rule 20.11.1 require that county clerks develop contingency plans which address an unexpected outage of video surveillance, as required by law.

Strengthening Signature Verification Rules

• **New Rule 6.2.2 requires that county clerks not assign a judge to conduct signature verification if the judge has unexplained or irregular acceptance or rejection rates when reviewing signatures during prior elections in that county.
• **Amendments to Rule 6.8 require that election judges assigned to signature verification successfully complete a training course provided by the Secretary of State’s Office every election. Clerks may provide additional training, if desired. Signature verification training was previously required once per two-year election cycle, and counties were previously permitted to provide their own, alternative training if approved by the Secretary of State’s Office.

Ensuring Proper Staffing by Bipartisan Teams of Election Judges

• Amendments to Rule 6.1 assist county clerks with their planning for election judge needs by requiring the county to give estimates of election judge needs to each party prior to precinct caucuses. The amendments further specify when a county clerk may utilize minor party or unaffiliated election judges.
• Amendments to Rule 20.2.2 expand the background check requirement to include all election judges. Previously, background checks were only required if judges needed access to the statewide voter registration database, elector’s confidential or personally identifiable information, voter registration applications, or other voter list maintenance activities.

Setting New Licensing Requirements for Petition Entities

• Amendments to Rule 15.2.1 and 15.2.2 concern new requirements to enhance accountability for petition entity license applications.
• New Rules 15.2.5 and 15.2.6 establish that, beginning in 2024, petition entity licenses are only valid for two years from the date of approval. Additionally, these rules require that entity licenses must be updated no later than 20 days after a change to any information provided in the initial application.

Rulemaking Documents

Elections rulemaking hearing page

Notice of rulemaking (PDF)

Notice of Permanent Rules Adoption (PDF)

Notice of Rules Adoption on a Temporary Basis (PDF)

Audio recording of the public rulemaking hearing

These rules will become permanently effective 20 days after publication in the Colorado Register.

Members of the public with questions about rulemaking should contact SoS.Rulemaking@ColoradoSOS.gov.

Members of the press with questions relating to the rulemaking should contact communications@ColoradoSOS.gov.