Ritchie v. Polis

2020 CO 69. No. 20SC453. Election Law.

July 1, 2020

In this per curiam C.A.R. 50 appeal, the Supreme Court addressed whether the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act, CRS §§ 24-33.5-701 to -716, authorizes the governor to create, by executive order, an exception to the requirement that signatures on petitions used to place initiatives on the ballot be collected in person. The Court concluded that article V, § 1 of the Colorado Constitution requires that ballot initiative petitions be signed in the presence of the petition circulator. Because that requirement cannot be suspended by executive order, the governor is not authorized to create an exception to that requirement. Accordingly, the Court reversed the district court’s judgment.

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