HB 15-1237 Summary

• Requires all return envelopes for mail ballot elections conducted on or after July 1, 2015 to have postage prepaid, including regular mail ballots, independent mail ballots, and municipal mail ballots.

• Mandates the Secretary of State reimburse county clerks, designated election officials, and municipal clerks for the costs of providing postage-prepaid return envelopes.

• Expands the General Assembly's authority to appropriate funds from the Department of State cash fund to cover the additional postage costs, with general fund appropriations available if cash fund amounts are insufficient.

• Removes the requirement that voters provide their own postage when returning ballots by mail, eliminating the language "If an eligible elector returns the ballot by mail, the elector must provide postage."

• Updates the definition of "return envelope" throughout Colorado statutes to explicitly include postage prepaid as a required characteristic.