(1) The vote of any absentee voter may be challenged in the same manner as other votes are challenged, and the judges of election shall have power to determine the legality of such ballot. If the challenge is sustained or if the judges determine that the self-affirmation accompanying the absentee voter's ballot is insufficient or that the voter is not a registered elector, the envelope containing the ballot of such voter shall not be opened, and the judges shall endorse on the back of the envelope the reason therefor. When it is made to appear to the judges of election by sufficient proof that any absentee voter who has marked and forwarded his or her ballot has died, the envelope containing the ballot of such deceased voter shall not be opened, and the judges shall make proper notation on the back of such envelope. If an absentee voter's envelope contains more than one marked ballot of any one kind, none of such ballots shall be counted, and the judges shall make notation on the back of the ballots the reason therefor. Judges of election shall certify in their returns the number of absentee voters' ballots cast and counted and the number of such ballots rejected.
All absentee voters' identification envelopes, ballot stubs, and absentee voters' ballotsrejected by the judges of election in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be returned to the clerk. All absentee voters' ballots received by the clerk after 7 p.m. the day of the election, together with those rejected and returned by the judges of election, as provided in this section, shall remain in the sealed identification envelopes and be destroyed later, as provided in section 31-10-616.
If an absentee voter's ballot is not returned or if it is rejected and not counted, suchfact shall be noted on the record kept by the clerk. Such record shall be open to public inspection under proper regulations.
Source: L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1063, § 1, effective July 1. L. 91: (1) amended, p. 642, § 91, effective May 1. L. 93: (2) amended, p. 1711, § 14, effective July 1. L. 2014: Entire section amended, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 68, § 24, effective February 18.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 31-10-808 as it existed prior to 1975.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 14-1164, see section 1 of chapter 2, Session Laws of Colorado 2014.