As noted in my recent article about the history-making recall elections in Colorado, there was a risk that the difference between the (state) constitutional provision allowing candidates to access a ballot up to 15 days before an election and the statutory provision cutting off access to a recall election ballot 10 days after certification of the recall could result in a lawsuit by candidates trying to be on the ballot.
This has in fact happened, with Libertarian Party candidates in Pueblo and Colorado Springssuing the state so they can be allowed to try to gather enough signatures to have their names placed on the ballot. If they win, it would also give Democrats time to do the same thing. As it stands today, only Republicans have qualified to appear on the replacement ballot if Democrat Senators Angela Giron and/or John Morse are recalled.
The key issue is that this is a mail-in-only election, so there is no way to let someone submit petition signatures for access to the ballot with just 15 days to go before the election yet leave enough time for signature validation, statutorily-permitted challenges of the petition, and still be able to mail the ballots and get them returned by the election date.
Constitutional provisions generally should trump regulation or legislative law, and I expect it will in this case, but a remedy will not be easy to craft given the issues created by a mail-only election — a situation created by recent Democrat-sponsored (and Republican-opposed) legislation which not only ordered that all Colorado elections be only by mail but also allowed same-day registration, one of Democrats’/unions’ favorite methods of trying to steal close elections.
The hearing on the Libertarians’ claim was earlier today, and the judge is aware that a quick result is extremely important, so I would expect to be able to update you further within 48 hours.
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