On May 11, the Colorado Senate passed HB 1271 on third reading. Before passing it, the Senate re-amended it so that it matches the version passed earlier by the House. The only difference in the two versions had been the effective date. The final version doesn’t take effect until 2011. See this story.

HB 1271 will now become law, if Governor Bill Ritter signs it. Ritter is a Democrat and the bill had substantial support among Democrats in the legislature, so he is likely to sign it.

Colorado is the only state in which the legislature has passed a bill this year that eases ballot access for minor party and independent candidates. HB 1271 eases the prior disaffiliation period for independent candidates. Assuming it becomes law, California will be the only state in the nation in which independent candidates can’t get on the ballot if they had been registered as a member of a qualified party at some point in the odd year before the election year. And even California doesn’t apply the restriction to presidential independents.