Page:Colorado State Constitution (2020).pdf/14

 Section 3.State officers - election - returns. The officers named in section one of this article shall be chosen on the day of the general election, by the registered electors of the state. The governor and the lieutenant governor shall be chosen jointly by the casting by each voter of a single vote applicable to both offices. The returns of every election for said officers shall be sealed up and transmitted to the secretary of state, directed to the speaker of the house of representatives, who shall immediately, upon the organization of the house, and before proceeding to other business, open and publish the same in the presence of a majority of the members of both houses of the general assembly, who shall for that purpose assemble in the house of representatives. The joint candidates having the highest number of votes cast for governor and lieutenant governor, and the person having the highest number of votes for any other office, shall be declared duly elected, but if two or more have an equal and the highest number of votes for the same office or offices, one of them, or any two for whom joint votes were cast for governor and lieutenant governor respectively, shall be chosen thereto by the two houses, on joint ballot. Contested elections for the said offices shall be determined by the two houses, on joint ballot, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

Source: Entire article added, effective August 1, 1876, see L. 1877, p. 33. L. 67: Entire section amended, p. 1083. L. 84: Entire section amended, p. 1143, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, L. 85, p. 1791, January 14, 1985.

Cross references: For elections generally, see articles 1 to 13 of title 1; for state and district officers, see § 1-4-204; for the proceedings to contest the election of state officers, see § 1-11-205; for rules for conducting contests for state officers, see § 1-11-207.

Section 4.Qualifications of state officers. No person shall be eligible to the office of governor or lieutenant governor unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years, nor to the office of secretary of state or state treasurer unless he shall have attained the age of twenty-five years, nor to the office of attorney general unless he shall have attained the age of twenty-five years and be a licensed attorney of the supreme court of the state in good standing, and no person shall be eligible to any one of said offices unless, in addition to the qualifications above prescribed therefor, he shall be a citizen of the United States, and have resided within the limits of the state two years next preceding his election.

Section 5.Governor commander-in-chief of militia. The governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military forces of the state, except when they shall be called into actual service of the United States. He shall have power to call out the militia to execute the laws, suppress insurrection or repel invasion.

Section 6.Appointment of officers - vacancy. (1) The governor shall nominate, and, by and with the consent of the senate, appoint all officers whose offices are established by this Colorado Revised Statutes 2020