Secretary of State Adopts Amended Election and Campaign Finance Rules

Denver CO, October 10, 2006 – Following public hearings held last week, Secretary of State Gigi Dennis today announced the adoption of amended election and campaign finance rules.

The Secretary of State’s office announced proposed rule changes on August 18, 2006, and held public hearings on October 4 in accordance with Colorado’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The amended rules adopted today include revisions to the proposed rules based on public testimony received in the public hearings.

Changes to the election rules take effect immediately and will provide guidance to county clerks in the conduct of the November election. The Secretary of State addressed issues such as multi-page ballots, “fleeing” voters, uniformed service elector voting procedures, multi-purpose issue committees, anonymous contributions, and candidate committee loans in the newly adopted rules.

Changes to the campaign finance rules do not take formal effect until after the election. However, to the extent that they represent the Secretary’s interpretation of current law, the amended rules are expected to provide useful guidance to candidates and committees even during the current reporting periods.

“This office relies heavily on the public testimony provided at rulemaking hearings,” Secretary of State Gigi Dennis said. “After reviewing the verbal and written comments received at the rulemaking hearing I have adopted rules to provide valuable guidance to county clerks, candidates, and committees.”

Summary of the Rule Adoptions:

Election Rules:

Multiple Page Ballots – Proposed revisions to Rules 12, 13, and 27 - adopted. These rules are necessary to establish clear guidelines for county clerks with regard to the processing of multiple page ballots and to ensure that multiple page ballots are processed consistently statewide. Because of the length of the ballot, some jurisdictions will be using a multiple page ballot. The rule is based on best practices recommended by a committee of county clerks.

Uniformed Service Elector Absentee Voting Procedures – Proposed Rule 25 - adopted. This rule is necessary to implement the requirement of SB 06-062, which states that the Secretary of State will “establish procedures by which a uniformed elector serving outside the United States may return a ballot by electronic mail.”

“Fleeing” Voters – Proposed Rule 47 – adopted. This rule is necessary to extend the current policy regarding paper ballots to those who cast a ballot using voting equipment. This rule ensures there is a clear statewide procedure in place, and was adopted in keeping with the best practices recommended by a committee of county clerks.

Vacancies in Nominations – Temporary Rule 46 – no change adopted. This rule was not intended or proposed as a permanent solution; rather it was previously adopted as a temporary interpretation of the vacancy statute to provide guidance during the 2006 election. The Secretary of State agreed with public testimony that this is an issue that needs to be addressed in statute by the next General Assembly. Because public testimony did not disagree with the basic result provided by the temporary rule, and no alternative language was suggested, this rule will remain in effect through the 2006 general election and will expire on December 7, 2006 in accordance with section 24-4-103(6), C.R.S. (2006).

Campaign Finance Rules:

Multi-Purpose Issue Committees – Temporary Rules 3.8 and 4.16 – adopted as permanent rules. The purpose of these rules is to clarify that the campaign finance reports of membership organizations qualifying as issue committees only need to disclose their campaign finance activity, instead of all of the financial activity of the organization.

Unidentified Contributions – Proposed Rule 3.9 – adopted with revisions. This rule is necessary to provide clear and uniform guidance with regard to contributions received where the identity of the contributor is unknown. Without knowing the identity of the contributor, it cannot be determined whether the contribution is from an impermissible source, such as a corporation or noncitizen.

Loans Made by a Candidate – Proposed revisions to Rules 4.5 and 4.6 - adopted. These revisions conform the rules to a decision by an Administrative Law Judge on August 8, 2006, allowing candidates to make personal loans to their campaigns.

Transfer of Dues by a Membership Organization – Proposed revisions to Rule 4.15 – adopted with changes. Based upon testimony received at the public hearing, the technical amendments to this rule as originally proposed have been revised by omitting issue committees from the rule.

Voluntary Contributions From Members With Dues Payments – Proposed amendment to Rule 1.14 and Proposed Rule 4.17 - not adopted. Testimony was received during the public hearing in opposition to the proposed rules, which would have clarified the ability of members to include voluntary political contributions with their dues payments.

Disclosure Reporting – Proposed Rule 4.18 – adopted as Rule 4.17. This rule is necessary to clarify that committees must file disclosure reports for all reporting periods until they have terminated in accordance with Campaign and Political Finance Rules.

The Secretary of State is given rulemaking authority for elections rules under C.R.S. 1-1-107(2)(a) and campaign and political finance rules under Article 28 of the Colorado Constitution.

Further information regarding the Secretary of State’s rules can be obtained from the Secretary of State’s “Election Center” website at www.sos.state.co.us.