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2021 Colorado Code
Title 1 - Elections
Article 13 - Election Offenses
Part 7 - Offenses - Conduct of Elections
§ 1-13-709. Voting in Wrong Polling Location

Universal Citation: CO Code § 1-13-709 (2021)
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[ ] Any person who, at any election provided by law, knowingly votes or offers to vote in any polling location in which he or she is not qualified to vote shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than eighteen months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Editor's note: This version of this section is effective until March 1, 2022.

History. Source: L. 80: Entire article R&RE, p. 434, § 1, effective January 1, 1981. L. 95: Entire section amended, p. 853, § 86, effective July 1. L. 2013: Entire section amended,(HB 13-1303), ch. 185, p. 748, § 119, effective May 10. L. 2021: Entire section amended,(SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3128, § 31, effective March 1, 2022.


Editor's note:
  1. This section is similar to former §§ 1-13-135 and 1-30-128 as they existed prior to 1980.

  2. Section 803(2) of chapter 462 (SB 21-271), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022.

Cross references:

In 2013, this section was amended by the “Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act”. For the short title and the legislative declaration, see sections 1 and 2 of chapter 185, Session Laws of Colorado 2013.

ANNOTATION

Conduct prohibited by this section is sufficiently distinguishable from felony election statute to create two separate offenses, avoiding violation of equal protection clause. This section relates to voting or the offer to vote in a precinct in which defendant is not qualified to vote. Felony statute relates to actually voting by providing false information regarding place of residence. People v. Onesimo Romero, 746 P.2d 534 (Colo. 1987).

Voting in the wrong precinct is an unclassified misdemeanor, and trial court may not reclassify the offense as a petty offense but must apply the penalties and statute of limitation consistent with the limits and constraints legislatively imposed by statute. People v. Onesimo Romero, 746 P.2d 534 (Colo. 1987).

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