1. Candidate Petitions

2. New in 2018 Signature verification (HB17-1088) New circulation periods
February 1 – April 4 (2016) vs. January 16 – March 20 (2018)
New petition review software

3. Petition volume 2016: 20 petitions filed with the Secretary of State
11 petitions deemed sufficient
7 petitions deemed insufficient
2 petitions withdrawn
2018:
46 petitions filed with the Secretary of State
30 petitions deemed sufficient
4 petitions deemed insufficient
12 petitions withdrawn

4. Legal challenges
Substantial compliance (Robinson; Watson; Lawrence; Levin)
Substantial compliance standard (Loonan v. Woodley, 882 P.2d 1380, 1384 (Colo. 1994))
Extent of the non-compliance
Purpose of the provision that was violated
Whether there was a good faith effort to comply with the law

5. Legal challenges Constitutional challenges (Lamborn; Lawrence; Levin)
Section (1), C.R.S. “No person shall circulate a petition to nominate a candidate unless the person is a resident of the state, a citizen of the United States, at least eighteen years of age, and, for partisan candidates, registered to vote and affiliated with the political party mentioned in the petition at the time the petition is circulated, as shown in the statewide voter registration system.”
Section (2) (a), C.R.S. “For petitions to nominate candidates from a major political party in a partisan election, each signer must be affiliated with the major political party named in the petition ”

6. Legal challenges Some statistics to make us feel better
2016: 3 candidate petitions out of 20 total required litigation
3/20 = 15 percent
2018: 5 candidate petitions out of 46 total required litigation
5/46 = 10.8 percent