Ballot selfie bill in Colorado one vote from governor’s desk

DENVER – A bill that would eliminate the penalty for Coloradans who take a “ballot selfie” could be among the first bills in the 2017 General Assembly to reach the governor’s desk.

House Bill 1014 passed its second Senate floor reading on Wednesday without further amendments. It will have one more floor review before a final vote. The bill passed the House on Jan. 31.

The issue was taken to court ahead of November’s election, and a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction that kept the state attorney general and district attorneys from prosecuting people who took or posted a picture of their completed ballot.

The Colorado rule was first written in the 1890s and has been reinterpreted over the past century.

The new bill changes one of those modifications, created by the Uniform Election Code of 1965 and Election Code of 1992, by eliminating language that prohibits voters from showing their completed ballot to anyone.

But it would still still give county clerks and polling center workers the ability to restrict photography at polling centers. Inducing any voter to show someone how they voted would still be against the law, should the bill pass.

The bill, as modified by the House during its second reading, would create a new offense that would penalize people for trading votes or offering such. They would face a misdemeanor charge.

The third Senate floor session has yet to be scheduled.