(1) At the top of each page of a petition to initiate the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a municipal home rule charter, including the formation of a new charter commission, must be printed, in plain red letters no smaller than the impression of ten-point, bold-faced type, the following:
WARNING:
IT IS AGAINST THE LAW:
For anyone to sign any petition with any name other than his or her own or to knowingly sign his or her name more than once for the same measure or to sign such petition when not a registered elector.
DO NOT SIGN THIS PETITION UNLESS YOU ARE A REGISTERED ELECTOR:
Do not sign this petition unless you have read or had read to you the text of the proposal in its entirety and understand its meaning.
Any such petition shall be signed only by registered electors by their own signaturesto which shall be attached the residence addresses of such persons, including street and number, if any, city or town, and the date of signing the same. To each such petition shall be attached an affidavit of the person who circulated the petition stating the affiant's address, that the affiant is eighteen years of age or older, that the affiant circulated the said petition, that each signature thereon was affixed in the affiant's presence, that each signature thereon is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be, that to the best of the knowledge and belief of the affiant each of the persons signing said petition was at the time of signing a registered elector, and that the affiant has not paid or will not in the future pay and that the affiant believes that no other person has so paid or will pay, directly or indirectly, any money or other thing of value to any signer for the purpose of inducing or causing such signer to affix the signer's signature to such petition. No petition shall be accepted for filing that does not have attached thereto the affidavit required by this section.
(Deleted by amendment, L. 2000, p. 792, § 7, effective August 2, 2000.)
The clerk shall inspect timely filed petitions and attached affidavits to ensure compliance with subsection (2) of this section. Such inspection may consist of an examination of the information on the signature lines for patent defects, a comparison of the information on the signature lines with a list of registered electors provided by the county, or any other method of inspection reasonably expected to ensure compliance with subsection (2) of this section.
Source: L. 84: Entire section added, p. 832, § 5, effective April 25. L. 85: (1) and (2) amended, p. 1347, § 17, effective April 30. L. 92: (1) amended, p. 2177, § 38, effective June 2. L. 94: (1) amended, p. 1772, § 37, effective January 1, 1995. L. 96: (2) amended, p. 1768, § 62, effective July 1. L. 2000: (2) and (3) amended and (4) added, p. 792, § 7, effective August 2. L. 2013: (1) amended, (HB 13-1303), ch. 185, p. 750, § 132, effective May 10. L. 2014: (1) amended, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 59, § 12, effective February 18.
Cross references: (1) In 2013, subsection (1) 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.
(2) For the legislative declaration in HB 14-1164, see section 1 of chapter 2, Session Laws of Colorado 2014.