The Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s Office announced today that the Colorado Center Party has attained a sufficient number of registered voters to be recognized as a minor political party in Colorado. The Colorado Center Party was formerly considered a Qualified Political Organization (QPO).
A QPO is an organization that has placed a candidate for a congressional district or statewide office on the ballot at a congressional vacancy or general election. To form a QPO, officers of the QPO must:
- File proof of organization with the Secretary of State;
- Meet as an organization at least once a year; and
- Certify at least one candidate to the General Election ballot every two (2) years.
A QPO may qualify as a minor political party if:
- Any of its candidates for any statewide office received at least 5% of the total votes cast for that office in either of the last 2 general elections; or
- 1,000 or more registered electors are affiliated with the QPO prior to July 1 of the election year for which the organization seeks to nominate candidates as a minor political party.
A minor political party is any political party other than a major political party. To obtain minor political party status, a minor political party must satisfy the conditions set forth in Article 4, of Title 1, of the Colorado Revised Statutes.
A minor political party maintains its status if:
- At least one (1) of the minor political party’s candidates for statewide office has received at least 1% of the total votes cast in any statewide office in either of the last two (2) general elections; or
- 1,000 or more registered electors are affiliated with the minor political party prior to July 1st in either of the last two (2) general elections for which the minor political party seeks to nominate candidates.
The other minor parties in Colorado are American Constitution Party, Approval Voting Party, Green Party of Colorado, the Libertarian Party of Colorado, the No Labels Colorado Party, and the Unity Party of Colorado. A full listing of political parties in Colorado is available at the Political Party Directory on ColoradoSOS.gov.
To learn more about Minor Parties and Qualified Political Organizations, visit the Minor Parties and Qualified Political Organizations FAQs page on ColoradoSOS.gov.