(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said the complaint against petitioners who gathered signatures to place the Karman Line annexation on the ballot has been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

According to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, a complaint filed by Norris Ranch Joint Ventures alleged that the Committee for a Referendum on Ordinance 25-16 and its three members failed to register as an issue committee and did not report their contributions or all of their expenditures related to the paid petition circulators.

The motion to dismiss said that Norris Ranch Joint Ventures alleged the City of Colorado Springs adopted campaign finance ordinances, but that they are much less stringent than state law. Norris Ranch Joint Ventures asked the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to take action, as “Colorado Springs refuses to regulate this campaign finance activity, it falls to the Secretary of State to enforce Colorado’s campaign finance laws.”

However, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said that because the complaint is in regard to a municipal campaign finance matter, the complaint falls outside of the Secretary of State’s Office’s jurisdiction. The Secretary of State’s Office said the Colorado Constitution and the Fair Campaign Practices Act authorize home rule municipalities to regulate and control their municipal elections, as long as they have adopted similar regulations that address matters covered by Amendment XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution.

The Secretary of State’s Office said Colorado Springs has adopted its own municipal election regulations, and as such, its municipal elections are not subject to the FCPA and Amendment XXVIII. The Secretary of State’s Office ruled it does not have jurisdiction over Colorado Springs municipal elections and, as such, has dismissed the complaint.