8 CCR 1505-1-1 - [Effective until 10/30/2024] Definitions
1.1
As used in these Rules, unless stated otherwise:
1.1.1 "Active ballot" means a ballot properly
marked and counted for either a winning candidate or a continuing candidate in
a ranked voting election.
1.1.2
"Audio ballot" means a voter interface containing the list of all candidates,
ballot issues, and ballot questions upon which an eligible elector is entitled
to vote in an election. It also provides the voter with audio stimuli and
allows the voter to communicate voting intent to the voting system through
vocalization or physical actions.
1.1.3 "Audit log" means a record generated by
a voting system, in printed or electronic format, providing a record of
activities and events relevant to initializing election management software and
hardware, including the identification of files containing election parameters,
initializing the tabulation process, processing voted ballots, and terminating
the tabulation process.
1.1.4
"Ballot image" means a digitally captured image of a paper ballot.
1.1.5 "Ballot marking device" or "BMD" means
a device that may integrate components such as a ballot scanner, printer,
touch-screen monitor, audio output, and a navigational keypad and uses
electronic technology to:
(a) Mark a paper
ballot at voter direction;
(b)
Interpret the ballot selections;
(c) Communicate the interpretation for voter
verification; and
(d) Print a
voter-verifiable ballot.
1.1.6 "Ballot measure" means a ballot issue
or ballot question as defined in sections
1-1-104 (2.3) and (2.7),
C.R.S.
1.1.7 "Ballot scanner" means
an optical or digital ballot scanner.
1.1.8 "Ballot style" means a specific ballot
layout or content for an election. The ballot style is the presentation of the
unique combination of contests and candidates for which the voter is eligible
to vote. It includes the order of contests and candidates, the list of ballot
positions for each contest, and the binding of candidate names to ballot
positions within the presentation. Multiple precincts may use a single ballot
style. Multiple styles may appear in a single precinct where voters are split
between two or more districts or other categories defining voter eligibility
for particular contests and candidates.
1.1.9 "Ballots cast" means the total number
of ballots received by the county clerk in an election. "Ballots cast" does not
include mail ballot envelopes returned to the county clerk by the U.S. Postal
Service as undeliverable.
1.1.10
"Blank ballot" means a ballot on which the voter has made no marks in any
voting position, has marked with an unreadable marker, or has consistently
marked outside of the "read" area of the ballot scanner.
1.1.11 "Canvass workers" means workers
appointed or hired by the designated election official to assist in the
preparation and conduct of the canvass.
1.1.12 "Cast vote record" or "CVR" means the
aggregated ballot-level data on ballots counted, consisting of a single record
for each ballot tabulated, showing the manner in which the voting system
interpreted and tabulated the voter's markings on the ballot, as adjudicated
and resolved by election judges, if applicable.
1.1.13 "Central count" means the county's
principal ballot counting and processing location.
1.1.14 "Chain-of-custody log" means a written
record documenting security, possession, and control of a voting system
component, election record, or other election material.
1.1.15 "Closed network" means a network
configuration in which voting system components connect to and communicate only
with each other and not with the Internet or any other computer
network.
1.1.16 "Continuing
candidate" means a candidate who has not been eliminated but is not a winning
candidate in a ranked voting election.
1.1.17 "County clerk" means the elected
county clerk as chief designated election official for the county.
1.1.18 "Damaged ballot" means a ballot that
is torn, bent, or otherwise mutilated or rendered unreadable, so that it cannot
be processed by the ballot scanner. Damaged ballots include:
(a) All ballots that contain a foreign
substance that could interfere with the ballot scanner (e.g. food, drink,
etc.).
(b) Ballots that are marked
in a medium or manner that cannot be detected by a ballot scanner.
1.1.19 "Data entry county" means a
county using an election management system that exports a file to be uploaded
to the Election Night Reporting system.
1.1.20 "De minimis change" means a change to
voting system hardware that is so minor in nature and effect that it requires
no additional testing by a VSTL.
1.1.21 "Department", "Colorado Department of
State", "Colorado Secretary of State's Office," and "Colorado Secretary of
State" all mean the Colorado Secretary of State and personnel employed by the
Secretary of State to efficiently carry out the powers and duties prescribed by
Title 1, C.R.S., as authorized by section
1-1-107(2)(c).
1.1.22 "Designated election official" or
"DEO" includes the designated election official's sworn, deputized
designee.
1.1.23 "Duplicate
ranking" means a voter marked more than one ranking for a candidate in a ranked
voting election.
1.1.24 "Duplicated
ballot" means a ballot for which a true copy must be made for the ballot to be
properly processed and counted because of damage, improper marking, or any
issue that would prevent a ballot tabulating machine from accurately counting
the ballot.
1.1.25 "Election
complaint" means a complaint filed with the Secretary of State under Articles 1
through 13 of Title 1, C.R.S.
1.1.24 "Election management software" means
the software for election equipment or computers that controls election setup
vote recording, vote tabulation, and reporting.
1.1.27 "Election management system" means the
hardware and software applications used to configure, program, and report
election results from one or more voting system components, including the
ballot definition and the election reporting subsystem. The election management
system may provide utilities for other election administration tasks, including
maintaining equipment inventories, estimating ballot printing needs, and
maintaining information on voter service and polling centers.
1.1.28 "Election media" means any device
including a cartridge, card, memory device, or hard drive used in a voting
system for the purposes of storing election setup records (ballot or card
styles), recording voting results from electronic vote tabulating equipment, or
any other data storage required by the voting system for a particular election
function. The election management system typically downloads ballot style
information to the election media and uploads results and ballot images from
the election media.
1.1.29
"Election project backup" means a set of files that is generated by the voting
system software's dedicated backup/export functions and vendor defined
procedures after the initial project is created that can be used to restore the
voting system to a previous state. This does not include a full or partial hard
drive image or clone.
1.1.30
"Election setup records" means the electronic records, often in the form of a
database or a set of databases, generated by election management software to
create and define ballots, tabulation instruction, and other functions related
to the election.
1.1.31 "Electronic
ballot" means a non-paper ballot such as on a touch screen or through audio
feedback. After a voter casts an electronic ballot, the voter's choices must be
marked and printed on a paper ballot for subsequent counting by a ballot
scanner.
1.1.32 "Electronic
transmission" means:
(a) Sending an unvoted
ballot by fax, email, or online delivery to:
(1) A military or overseas elector under
Article 8.3 of Title 1, C.R.S.
(2)
An elector requesting a replacement for an emergency under section
1-7.5-115, C.R.S.
(3) An elector with a disability who requests
a ballot under section
1-5-706, C.R.S.
(b) Returning a voted ballot by
fax, email, or other electronic means.
1.1.33 "Firmware" means computer programs
stored on read-only memory devices or other electronic circuitry in voting
devices that control the basic operation and function of those
devices.
1.1.34 "Help America Vote
Act complaint" or "HAVA complaint" means a complaint filed with the Secretary
of State under Title III of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and Article 1.5 of
Title 1, C.R.S.
1.1.35 "Immediate
voting area" means the area that is within six feet of the voting equipment,
voting booths, and the ballot box.
1.1.36 "Inactive ballot" means a ballot that
does not count for any candidate for any of the reasons listed in Rule
26.7.
1.1.37 "Instant runoff voting
contest" means a type of ranked voting contest as set forth in section
1-7-1003, C.R.S., where only one
candidate will be elected to the office.
1.1.38 "Manual entry county" means a county
that does not use an election management system to export data to the Election
Night Results system.
1.1.39
"Official Observer" means either an observer appointed by the Secretary of
State or an observer appointed by the federal government and approved by the
Secretary of State. Official Observers may be present in all phases of the
election process and perform duties as may be assigned by the Secretary of
State, but are subject to Rules and regulations as prescribed by the Secretary
of State.
1.1.40 "Overvote" means:
(a) An instance where the elector marked
votes for more than the maximum number of candidates or responses for a ballot
measure;
(b) In a ranked voting
contest, a voter marked more than one candidate with the same
ranking.
1.1.41
"Personally identifiable information" means information about an individual
that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, such as an
elector's social security number, driver's license number, email address, month
and day of birth, and signature.
1.1.42 "Qualified political organization"
means an organization that has placed a partisan candidate, certified to the
ballot by the Secretary of State, for congressional or state office on the
ballot in a congressional vacancy or general election, whose officers have
filed proof of organization with the Secretary of State, and that continues to
meet the requirements of Rules 3.3 and 3.4.
1.1.43 "Ranking" means the voter's assigned
number or the numeric position for a candidate to express the voter's
preference for that candidate in a ranked voting election. Ranking number one
is the highest rank, ranking number two is the next-highest rank, and so
on.
1.1.44 "Related to the second
degree" means spouse, civil union partner, parents, children, brothers and
sisters, grandparents, and grandchildren.
1.1.45 "Removable card or cartridge" means a
programming card or cartridge, except a voter activation card, that stores
firmware, software, or data.
1.1.46
"SCORE" means the centralized statewide registration system and the
computerized statewide voter registration list described in Part 3 of Article 2
of Title 1.
1.1.47 "Seal" means a
serial-numbered tamper-evident device that, if broken or missing, indicates
that the chain-of-custody is broken and a device is not secure.
1.1.48 "Secure ballot area" means:
(a) All areas used for processing ballots,
including but not limited to:
(1) Signature
verification;
(2) Ballot
opening;
(3) Tabulation;
or
(4) Storage of voted
ballots.
(b) This does
not include an area located within a voter service and polling
center.
1.1.49 "Secure
equipment area" means:
(a) All areas in which
voting system components are used, including but not limited to:
(1) Programming;
(2) Copying election files to or from memory
cards or flash media;
(3)
Adjudicating ballots;
(4) Tallying
results;
(5) Results reporting;
or
(6) The storage area for all
voting system components.
(b) This does not include an area located
within a voter service and polling center.
1.1.50 "Single transferable vote contest"
means a type of ranked voting contest, as set forth in section
1-7-1003, C.R.S., where more than
one candidate will be elected to the same office.
1.1.51 "Skipped ranking" means a voter did
not rank candidates in numerical order (e.g., voter ranks top candidate with a
"1" and second candidate with a "3", or leaves a ranking blank).
1.1.52 "Split precinct" means a precinct that
has a geographical divide between one or more political jurisdictions which
results in each jurisdiction within the precinct to be assigned different
ballot styles for a specific election.
1.1.53 "Statement of Ballots Form" means the
form used at the polling location that accounts for all ballots at that
location and includes all information required by Rule 10.
1.1.54 "Surplus fraction" means a fraction
calculated by dividing the surplus votes by the total votes cast for the
winning candidate, calculated to four decimal places, ignoring any remainder.
Surplus fraction = (surplus votes of a winning candidate)/(total votes cast for
winning candidate), calculated to four decimal places, ignoring any
remainder.
1.1.55 "Surplus votes"
means the votes cast for a winning candidate in excess of the winning threshold
that may be transferred to a continuing candidate.
1.1.56 "Target area" means the square or oval
corresponding to the candidate's name or ballot response (examples: "Yes",
"No", "For" or "Against") on a paper ballot.
1.1.57 "Transfer" means assigning the vote of
an eliminated candidate or the surplus vote of a winning candidate to the
next-highest-ranked continuing candidate in the tabulation of an instant runoff
voting contest and single transferable vote contest.
1.1.58 "Transfer value" means the fraction of
a vote in a single transferable vote contest that a transferred ballot will
contribute to the next ranked continuing candidate on that ballot. The transfer
value of a vote cast for a winning candidate is limited to four decimal places,
ignoring any remainder.
1.1.59
"Trusted build" means the write-once installation disk or disks for software
and firmware for which the Secretary of State has established the
chain-of-custody to the building of the disks, which is then used to establish
or re-establish the chain-of-custody of any component of a voting system that
contains firmware or software. The trusted build is the origin of the
chain-of-custody for any software and firmware component of the voting
system.
1.1.60 "Undervote" means an
instance where the voter marked votes for fewer than the maximum number of
candidates or responses for a ballot measure.
1.1.61 "Video security surveillance
recording" means video monitoring by a device that continuously records a
designated location or a system using motion detection that records one frame,
or more, per minute until detection of motion triggers continuous
recording.
1.1.62 "Voting system"
as defined in section
1-1-104 (50.8), C.R.S., means:
(a) The total combination of mechanical,
electromechanical, or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware,
and documentation required to program, control, and support the equipment) that
is used to:
(1) Define ballots;
(2) Cast and count votes;
(3) Report or display election results;
and
(4) Maintain and produce any
audit trail information.
(b) The practices and associated
documentation used to:
(1) Identify system
components and versions of such components;
(2) Test the system during its development
and maintenance;
(3) Maintain
records of system errors and defects;
(4) Determine specific system changes to be
made to a system after the initial qualification of the system; and
(5) Make available any materials to the voter
(such as notices, instructions, forms, or paper ballots).
(c) "Voting system" does not include any
other component of election administration, such as voter registration
applications or systems, electronic pollbooks, ballot delivery and retrieval
systems, signature verification and envelope sorting devices, ballot-on-demand
printers, election night reporting and other election reporting systems, and
other components used throughout the election process that do not capture and
tabulate votes.
1.1.63
"Voting system test laboratory" or "VSTL" means a federally accredited entity
that conducts certification testing for voting systems.
1.1.64 "Winning candidate" means a candidate
who is elected after receiving more than 50 percent of the votes on active
ballots in an instant runoff contest, or after reaching the winning threshold
required in a single transferrable vote contest, or because the number of
continuing candidates and other winning candidates is less than or equal to the
number of seats to be filled.
1.1.65 "Winning threshold" means the number
of votes sufficient for a candidate to be elected in a single transferable vote
contest. In such a contest, the winning threshold equals the total votes
counted in the first round of tabulation, divided by the sum of one plus the
number of offices to be filled, then adding one, disregarding any fractions.
Winning threshold = ((Total votes cast)/(Seats to be elected + 1)) +1, with any
fraction disregarded.
1.1.66
"Write-in vote" means a vote where the voter physically writes in the name of a
qualified write-in candidate in the space reserved on the ballot for write-in
votes and properly marks the target area according to voter
instructions.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.