The January 2012 SDA News included the first article in a series discussing your duties and responsibilities in connection with the upcoming regular biennial special district elections on May 8, 2012.

March represents a turning point in the elections process when you will either (i) cancel your election, or (ii) begin to prepare the actual ballot and other election materials to move forward toward Election Day.

This article will pick up where last month’s article left off with a continued discussion of upcoming deadlines, as well as information about the various lists that you need to obtain and review, recruiting and training the other people you will need to assist you, planning for a mail ballot election, and TABOR considerations.

Finalizing Candidates for District Directors
Review of Self-Nominations and Write-in Affidavits
All candidates for the board of directors must be eligible electors of the district. In simplest terms, that includes persons who are registered to vote in Colorado and are residents of (for at least 30 days) and/or property owners in the special district. Typically, the DEO can confirm voter registration and property ownership by looking up the candidate’s name on the voter registration records obtained from the county clerk and recorder or on the property owner records obtained from the county assessor, as discussed below in “County Lists.”  Special circumstances, such as (i) persons who have recently moved to the district but have not yet transferred their voter registration to the new county, (ii) property owners who reside in another county outside the district (but are registered voters in Colorado), and (iii) spouses of titled property owners who do not, themselves, show up on the property owners list, may require a little extra detective work to confirm a nominee’s eligibility to run as a director candidate. Confirm eligibility as soon as possible after receiving a person’s self-nomination or affidavit of intent to be a write-in.

Candidate Paperwork to Secretary of State (March 9)
The DEO must provide all Self-Nomination and Acceptance forms and letters and all affidavits of intent to be a write-in candidate to the Secretary of State’s Office by March 9, 2012. This requirement does not apply if the district cancels the election.¹

Election Cancellation (March 6)
Board Resolution
A special district’s election may be cancelled if at the close of business on March 6 there are not more candidates than board seats to be filled and you don’t have any other ballot issues or ballot questions on the ballot. The district board must adopt (or have already adopted) a resolution instructing the DEO to cancel the election and declare the candidates elected by acclamation² in these circumstances.

Notice of Cancellation
The DEO must prepare a Notice of Cancellation which declares that the election has been cancelled and lists the candidates’ names and the length of the term to which they were elected. This Notice is published one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the district, and a copy of the notice must also be posted at:

• the office of the DEO,
• office of the County Clerk and Recorder, and
• each polling place of the district.

In addition, a copy of the Notice of Cancellation is filed with the Division of Local Government (“DLG”) along with a copy of the resolution of cancellation.³  You may also cancel any order made to the county for voter registration records or property owners lists, as discussed below.

Certificates of Election and Commencement of Term
The district must notify the candidates that the election has been cancelled and that they were elected by acclamation. After the required oath and bond are filed with the DLG, the DEO prepares a formal certificate of election for each person who was elected and delivers the formal certificate to that person.⁴

The regular term of office for a director elected by acclamation due to a cancelled election commences at the next regular meeting of the board of directors following the date of the regular election, provided that the oath of office and required bond⁵ are complete, but no later than 30 days following the date of the election. This year, the time frame for newly elected directors to take office is May 9 - June 7, 2012. Board members who will be leaving the board continue to hold office and serve until their successor takes office.

Preserve Election Materials
You must retain all election records until the later of 25 months after the election date (June 8, 2014) or the expiration of any election contest proceeding.

Ballot Preparation
If the district election is not cancelled as described above, it’s time to get the ballot ready.

Lot Drawing⁶ and Candidate Names
By March 9, 2012, the DEO (or a designee) must hold a lot drawing to determine the order of the candidates’ names on the ballot and must notify the candidates in advance of the time and place of the drawing so that they may attend, if desired.

Special district elections are nonpartisan, so names are printed without political party designations. Also, do not include any title (for example, “Dr.”) or degree (for example, “P.E.” or “Ph.D.”) designating the business or profession of the candidate.⁷

Do not include the names of any write-in candidates or any candidates who have died or withdrawn since they were approved for the ballot.

If you have any valid write-in candidates, a blank line is printed at the end of the list of the other candidates’ names. This blank line is the clue to electors and election judges that there is a valid write-in candidate for this election. Do not include a blank line on the ballot if you don’t have any valid write-in candidates.

Certify Content (March 9)
The DEO must certify the ballot order and ballot content by no later than March 9, 2012. Ballot content will include the names of all duly nominated candidates, a write-in line, if applicable as discussed above, and the text of any ballot issues or ballot questions. If the district election is being coordinated by the county clerk and recorder (uncommon for May regular special district elections), then the certification must be delivered to the county clerk and recorder. Otherwise, file the certificate in the district’s election records. The district is responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in the certificate.

Printing
It is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail concerning the form of the ballots⁸ or to discuss whether the ballots should be produced in-house or by a printing company. Suffice it to say, that you should choose a printer with experience in printing elections materials; this is particularly true for mail ballot elections. Ask other districts or your county clerk if you need a referral to a qualified printer. You will also need to give thought to how many ballots and other elections materials (provisional ballot envelopes, voter instruction sheets, polling place signs, voter self-affidavits, etc.) that you will need. The DEO must have possession of the printed ballots by no later than April 6, so March is definitely the time to make the necessary arrangements.

County Lists
Permanent mail-in voters list (March 9)
Certain metropolitan districts⁹ must mail a mail-in ballot to each eligible elector who has applied to the county clerk and recorder for permanent mail-in voter (“PMIV”) status pursuant to state law, subject to the exception explained below. (This PMIV requirement pertains only to polling place elections. If you are conducting the May 8, 2012 election by mail ballot, a ballot will be mailed to each eligible elector of the district, regardless of their PMIV status.)

In order to determine the PMIV electors to whom a mail-in ballot packet should be mailed, the DEO must request from the county clerk and recorder a list of the names and addresses of the registered electors of the county who are also registered electors of the metropolitan district and who have applied to the county clerk and recorder for PMIV status. This request must be made no later than March 9, 2012.

As part of the request for the list, the DEO must certify that prior to January 1, 2012, the metropolitan district filed with the county clerk and recorder a current, accurate map of the district’s boundaries.¹⁰ If the DEO does not make this certification (for example, because the district did not file the required map), the county clerk will provide the DEO with a list of all PMIV voters throughout the county; the list will not be pre-sorted to eliminate PMIV voters who are not within the district’s boundaries. That task will belong to the DEO, which, depending on the size of your district and county and the number of persons signed up for PMIV status, could be a very large job indeed.

If you notice any problems with the list, you have 10 days after receiving it to notify the county clerk and request a corrected list.

Based on the information in this PMIV list, you must mail a mail-in ballot to each eligible elector of the district on the PMIV list.

An exception to this requirement has been adopted which allows the metro district to send mail-in ballots to only certain, rather than all, of the PMIV electors. However, this exception applies only to metropolitan districts with 10,000 or more registered electors.¹¹ If you are one of the few very large metro districts to which the exception applies, you should contact your attorney or the SDA for more details.

Registered electors list
The DEO must order a list of all registered electors in the county from the county clerk and recorder by no later than March 29, 2012. The list will include the names and addresses of registered electors in the district. The DEO can request a complete list as of the 30th day before the election, with a supplemental list (new electors who have become eligible since the earlier list was prepared) as of 20 days before the election, or the DEO can request a complete list as of the 20th day before the election. This list is necessary in order to begin determining elector eligibility for purposes of addressing mail ballots or mail-in ballots, estimating quantities of elections materials and supplies, etc., so you are advised to request a registered electors list early in the elections process. Be prepared to pay the county a fee for this list.

Property owners list
No later than March 29, 2012, the DEO must order the list of property owners from the county assessor. This list contains the names and addresses of the recorded owners of taxable real and personal property within the district. This list is used to determine eligibility to vote on the basis of property ownership.

You can pare down this list right off the bat by eliminating any property which is owned by an entity that is not a natural person. For example, when the owner of record for taxable real or personal property within the district is a corporation, partnership, family trust, decedent’s estate, sole proprietorship, etc., the persons associated with that entity cannot qualify as eligible electors of the district based solely on such property ownership. However, those persons may qualify as eligible electors if they are qualified residents of the district.

As discussed above in connection with the registered electors list, the DEO may order a complete property owners list as of the 20th day before the election or a list as of the 30th day prior, with a supplementary list as of the 20th day prior.
Once again, be prepared to pay the county a fee for this list.

Election Judges
The number of election judges that you need to recruit will depend on a variety of factors, including whether you are conducting a mail ballot or polling place election, the number of polling places, the anticipated voter turnout, etc. You must have a minimum of two election judges for a mail ballot election and a minimum of two elections judges per polling place in a polling place election.¹²  The district board must also determine the compensation to be paid to your judges. The minimum amount is $5, and there is no stated maximum.¹³
An election judge

• must be a registered elector of the district, unless otherwise excepted (for example, due to lack of availability)
• may not be a candidate on the ballot nor the immediate family member of a candidate for district director
• must be willing to attend a training class, sign a certification that he/she meets certain qualifications, and take an oath or affirmation
• must be willing to provide their social security number to the DEO in order to receive compensation for their services as a judge at the election.

Election Judge Appointments
The DEO must appoint the necessary election judges no later than March 23, 2012. Persons appointed as election judges by the county clerk and recorder may also be appointed to serve as election judges for special district elections. The DEO confirms the appointments by mailing each appointed election judge a certificate of appointment and an acceptance form.¹⁴ Acceptance forms are due back to the DEO from the appointee within seven days.

Supply Judges and other Duties
The DEO appoints one election judge as supply judge.¹⁵ The supply judges’ responsibilities include but are not limited to receiving and delivering election supplies and equipment to and from each polling place.

The DEO may also appoint election judges to perform duties other than polling place duties, such as inspecting ballots or counting paper ballots. Though in many smaller elections, the polling place judges will wear all these election judge hats.

Judge Training
The law requires that the DEO hold a class instructing election judges about their tasks. This training cannot be held earlier than March 24, 2012, presumably to help judges retain the information until they put it to use on Election Day!

SDA will offer election judge training in a webinar or recorded format that you can download from our website and present to your election judges at times convenient to you and to them. We anticipate synchronizing the release of this training with the March 24 training start date mentioned above. SDA will not be holding on-site, live workshops for election judge training. Election judges may be paid expenses and reasonable compensation for attending election school.

The law also requires that DEOs hold a special class of instruction concerning the task of a supply judge. Details concerning the appointment and duties of a supply judge are set forth in statute at section 1-6-109.5, C.R.S.

Mail Ballot Elections
Mail Ballot Plan
If the district will be holding a mail ballot election on May 8, 2012, the deadline for submitting the mail ballot plan to the Secretary of State (“SOS”) for approval is March 14, 2012. Your plan must be filed electronically at www.sos.state.co.us. The SOS has a sample fillable mail ballot plan form available online. The SOS has 15 days from receipt to review and then approve or disapprove your plan. The closer your plan follows the SOS’s form, the quicker your approval will probably be.

Printing Materials
The official ballots must be printed and in the DEO’s possession by April 6, 2012 and printed mail ballot packet materials must be available for mailing to, or pick up by, electors beginning April 16, 2012. So, make all the arrangements to print your mail ballot materials in March. Mail ballot election supplies include ballots, mailing envelopes, return envelopes with appropriate self-affirmation language, and secrecy sleeves with the voter instructions.

TABOR Deadlines
If your district is presenting a TABOR-related “ballot issue” (for example, a mill levy increase, the issuance of bonded debt, or a “de-Brucing” question) to the district’s electors this Spring, this article assumes that your district is working together with your legal counsel and/or bond counsel to prepare the requisite ballot issue notice. Therefore, only the relevant deadlines are discussed below, without elaboration on the notice contents or handling procedures.

Pro/Con Statements
Written comments for and against any ballot issues must be filed with the DEO by the end of the business day on Friday, March 23, 2012. Retain any statements filed as part of your election records.

Ballot Issue Notice Preparation
No later than March 29, 2012, you must confer with the DEOs of any overlapping special districts also holding a ballot issue election on May 8, 2012 concerning the preparation and mailing of a ballot issue package. Ask the County Clerk for the names of any overlapping special districts and then call the district or DEO to ask whether they are including a TABOR issue on their ballot.

Mailing Notices
Ballot issue notices must be mailed “at least cost” to electors no later than April 6, 2012.

Caveat and Resources
This article and the other elections-related articles in previous or subsequent issues of the SDA Newsletter do not, and cannot, cover every statutory and rule-based detail. Conducting an election is a highly technical, highly detailed, and often expensive undertaking. Please seek out training, as needed, and consult with the district’s attorney to ensure legal compliance and avoid an election contest.
Samples of many of the forms, certificates, and other elections documents and materials may be obtained from SDA’s website or from the DLG’s “Technical Assistance-Special Districts-Elections-Special District Election Forms” webpage at http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/DOLA-Main/CBON/1251597495504.

End Notes
1 Secretary of State Rules Concerning Campaign and Political Finance, Rule 8.1.
2 See section 1-5-208, C.R.S.
3 See section 1-11-103(3), C.R.S.
4 See section 1-11-103(1), C.R.S.
5 See section 1-1-202, C.R.S.
6 See section 1-5-406, C.R.S.
7 See section 1-5-407(4), C.R.S.
8 See section 1-5-407, C.R.S.
9 These provisions apply only to metropolitan districts with more than $25,000 of annual revenue or that have total authorized debt (even if unissued) of more than $1,000 per eligible elector.
10 See sections 32-1-306 and 32-1-805(5), C.R.S.
11 See section 32-1-805(5)(b.5) and (b.7), C.R.S.
12 See section 1-6-111(4), C.R.S.
13 Be prepared to pay more than the minimum amount to recruit qualified judges. FYI - Employees of state agencies may be able to take administrative leave with pay to serve as an election judge.
14 See section 1-6-106, C.R.S.
15 Section 1-6-109.5, C.R.S. provides for one supply judge per “precinct.” Since special district elections do not follow voting precincts, per se, the DEO may wish to appoint supply judges differently.