(1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Election duties means activities required or authorized by law to
conduct public elections pursuant to the Uniform Election Code of 1992, articles 1
to 13 of title 1; the Colorado Local Government Election Code, article 13.5 of title 1;
the Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965, article 10 of title 31; or parts 8 and
9 of article 1 of title 32.
(b) Election official means a county clerk and recorder, a municipal clerk,
an election judge, a member of a canvassing board, a member of a board of county
commissioners, a member or secretary of a board of directors authorized to conduct
public elections, a representative of a governing body, or any other person
contracting for or engaged in the performance of election duties. Election official
includes any person who is an election worker.
(c) Election worker means a county clerk and recorder, a person currently
employed by a county to perform election duties, a municipal clerk, a person
currently employed by a municipal government to perform election duties, the
secretary of state, and a person currently employed by the secretary of state to
perform election duties. Election worker does not include an election judge or a
temporary employee of a county, municipal government, or the secretary of state.
(d) Exempt party means any party to the record, a settlement service, a
title insurance company, a title insurance agency, a mortgage servicer or a
mortgage servicer’s qualified agent, or an attorney licensed and in good standing in
the state of Colorado to practice law and who is engaged in a real estate matter.
(e) Immediate family means:
(I) An election official’s spouse, child, or parent; or
(II) Any other person who lives in the same residence as the election official.
(f) Mortgage servicer has the same meaning as set forth in section 5-21-103 (4).
(g) Personal information means a person’s home address, home telephone
number, personal mobile telephone number, pager number, or personal e-mail
address; a photograph of a person; directions to a person’s home; or a photograph
or description of a person’s home, vehicle, or vehicle license plate.
(h) Settlement service means a service listed in section 10-11-102 (6.7)(a) to
(6.7)(f).
(i) Title insurance agency has the same meaning as set forth in section 10-11-102 (8.5).
(j) Title insurance company has the same meaning as set forth in section
10-11-102 (10).
(2) (a) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly make available on the internet
personal information about an election official or an election official’s immediate
family if the dissemination of personal information poses an imminent and serious
threat to the safety of the election official or the election official’s immediate
family and the person making the information available on the internet knows or
reasonably should know of the imminent and serious threat.
(b) A violation of this subsection (2) is a class 1 misdemeanor.
(3) (a) An election worker may submit a written request pursuant to
subsection (3)(b) of this section to a state or local government official to remove the
election worker’s personal information from records that are available on the
internet. If a state or local government official receives the written request, then
the state or local government official shall not knowingly make available on the
internet personal information about the election worker.
(b) An election worker’s written request to a state or local government
official to remove personal information from records that the official makes
available on the internet must include:
(I) The election worker’s full name and home address;
(II) Evidence that the person submitting the request is an election worker;
and
(III) An affirmation stating under penalty of perjury that the election worker
submitting the request has reason to believe that the dissemination of the personal
information contained in the records that the official makes available on the
internet poses an imminent and serious threat to the safety of the election worker.
(c) An exempt party may access a record that includes information otherwise
subject to redaction pursuant to subsection (3)(b) of this section and that is
maintained by the county recorder, county assessor, or county treasurer if the
person seeking access to the record provides evidence and an affirmation under
penalty of perjury that they are an exempt party.
(d) Each county recorder, county assessor, or county treasurer shall grant an
exempt party access to the record based on its existing processes or shall adopt a
process to grant access if one is not already in place. Each county recorder, county
assessor, or county treasurer may assess administrative costs related to granting
access to the exempt party requesting the record.
L. 2022: Entire section added, (HB 22-1273), ch. 324, p. 2292, § 2, effective June 2.
