(1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that:
The "Help America Vote Act of 2002", Pub.L. 107-252, was passed by the UnitedStates congress and signed into law by president George W. Bush on October 29, 2002.
HAVA resulted from a national consensus that the nation's electoral system needsimprovements to ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote, that every vote that should be counted will be counted, and that no legal vote will be canceled by a fraudulent vote.
HAVA clearly defines the rights and privileges of those eligible individuals who seekto vote, including all overseas and military service voters, and seeks to prevent disenfranchisement resulting from mistaken determinations of ineligibility to vote, the use of outdated voting systems that are unreliable or insufficiently accessible for disabled voters, or unnecessary administrative obstacles.
To achieve these purposes, HAVA authorizes significant amounts of federal financialassistance to the states to finance the purchase of more reliable voting systems and mandates changes in the conduct of federal elections in all states for the purposes of ensuring greater access to the polls by individuals with disabilities, providing more information to individuals who wish to vote, improving the training of poll workers, and reducing the possibility of fraud in the electoral process.
As a condition of the receipt of certain funds from the federal government underHAVA, section 253 (b)(5) of HAVA requires the states to appropriate funds for carrying out the activities for which such payments are made in an amount equal to five percent of the total amount to be spent for such activities.
HAVA empowers the United States department of justice to bring civil actions seeking such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry out uniform and nondiscriminatory election technology and administration requirements. Accordingly, failure to satisfy the requirements of HAVA may subject election laws and procedures of this state to stringent review and approval by the United States department of justice.
In order that its requirements may be effectively and uniformly implemented, HAVAmandates a greater role for the state governments and, in particular, the chief election official of each state, in overseeing and coordinating elections and in enforcing and implementing uniform standards in elections.
In Colorado, the secretary of state is the chief state election official and, in that capacity, is charged by HAVA and existing state statutory provisions with responsibility for supervising the conduct of elections and for enforcing and implementing the provisions of HAVA and of this code.
(2) Now, therefore, by enacting this article, the general assembly intends to:
Begin the process of implementing the changes in this code that are required by
HAVA;
Ensure the timely fulfillment by the state of all requirements for eligibility underHAVA to be able to receive appropriated federal funds under HAVA; and
Provide the secretary of state with sufficient authority to ensure that the state of Colorado is fully compliant with all requirements imposed upon it pursuant to HAVA.
(3) The general assembly further intends that this article be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes as expressed in this section.
Source: L. 2003: Entire article added, p. 2065, § 7, effective May 22.