House Bill 13-1303, also known as the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act, made various modifications to the administration of elections in the state. The bill creates the Voter Outreach Through Enfranchisement (VOTE) Act, which makes further changes to elections administration.
House Bill 13-1303 repealed a provision under which an elector moving within the state before an election was permitted to vote in his or her former precinct. Section 2 of the bill revives that provision. Section 3 relieves designated elections officials from the duty to tabulate individual write-in votes for an office unless at least 10% of the ballots cast contain a write-in vote or otherwise would affect the outcome of the election.
House Bill 13-1303 specified the number of voter service and polling centers (VSPCs) required for any election and the hours and days that VSPCs must be open. Sections 4 and 5 allow county clerk and recorders to obtain permission for reduced hours of operation of VSPCs, upon consent of the board of county commissioners after holding a public hearing on the matter, and the secretary of state. Because electors are able to deposit voted mail ballots at all VSPCs, sections 4 and 5 also allow any VSPCs above the minimum number required to count toward the number of stand-alone mail ballot drop-off locations that a political subdivision is required to operate. Section 5 changes the formula for calculating how many VSPCs are required for certain elections conducted by a county clerk and recorder.
House Bill 13-1303 required all electors to receive mail ballots for elections conducted under the Uniform Election Code of 1992. Section 5 allows any elector to opt out of automatically receiving mail ballots.
House Bill 13-1303 reduced, from 30 to 22, the minimum number of days that a person must reside in Colorado to be eligible to vote. Sections 6, 7, and 8 align similar residency requirements for school district, municipal, and special district elections.

Year

2014

Current status

  • 02/26/2014 - House Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Postpone Indefinitely
  • 01/08/2014 - Introduced In House - Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs + Appropriations

Sponsors

Stephens

Bill number

HB14-1043