2025 Elections Checklist: Candidate Petition Process

This is a checklist for board candidates, veterans and new, to use during the school board candidate petition process, and can serve as a handy guide for the district’s designated election official (DEO).

Beginning August 6, 2025, candidates may pick up their “candidate packets” from the school district and begin circulating petitions. Each board candidate must complete the following forms and submit them to the district’s designated election official (DEO) or the DEO’s designee by August 29, 2025:

Required Candidate Forms

1. Notice of Intent to be a Candidate for School Director Board of Education.
   
    Must be signed by the candidate.
   
    Must be signed by the district’s designated election official (DEO) or other district employee who receives the completed form.
   
   

   Note: A school district with at least 1,000 students enrolled must post information concerning each board candidate as well as the candidate’s completed “Notice of Intent” form on the district’s website “as soon as practicable,” but no later than 60 days prior to the election (Sept. 5, 2025).

2. Affidavit of School Director Candidate on Qualifications for Office.
   
    Must be signed by the candidate and notarized.
   
   
3. Nonpartisan Candidate General Election Designation Petition.
   
    Must be signed by the required number of registered electors.
   • If the district has less than 1,000 students, the candidate petition must be signed by at least 25 registered electors.
   • If the district has 1,000 students or more, the candidate petition must be signed by at least 50 registered electors.
   
    The circulator affidavit attached to the candidate petition must be signed by the petition circulator and notarized.
   

   Note: If the candidate files his or her petition on the petition deadline on August 29, 2025, CASB recommends that the candidate consider filing a write-in affidavit, in case the petition is determined to be insufficient, given that the write-in affidavit deadline is also August 29, 2025.

4. Acceptance of Nomination to be a Candidate.
   
    Must be signed by the candidate and notarized.
   • Typically signed AFTER the candidate’s petition has been verified and accepted.
5. Candidate Affidavit under the Fair Campaign Practices Act (FCPA).
   
    Board candidates must electronically file, via the TRACER online disclosure system, a candidate affidavit with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office within 10 days of becoming a candidate.
   
   

   Note: The district’s DEO is not responsible for ensuring that candidates comply with this requirement or other FCPA requirements. CASB recommends that candidate questions concerning campaign finance requirements be referred to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. The district’s DEO may wish to provide an information sheet regarding campaign finance requirements to candidates when they pick up their candidate packets.

District DEO’s Checklist

☐ Publish the call for nominations between August 6 and August 21.

☐ Provide candidate packets and general information to those persons who come to the district’s office requesting a packet.

☐ Accept nomination petitions until August 29, and affidavits of intent for write-in candidates until September 2.

☐ Register for access to SCORE, which is the Secretary of State’s statewide online voter registration system.

☐ Verify candidate petitions by checking each petition entry against SCORE, and inform candidates if their petition does not meet the signature requirements.

☐ Before certification of ballot content, hold a ballot lot-drawing to determine the order of the names on the ballot.

☐ Certify ballot content by September 5.

☐ Post candidate information for accepted petitions online by September 5.

☐ Publish election notice by October 15.