DENVER � With Election Day less than a week away, it appears increasingly possible that the Grand Old Party could become just another minor party in Colorado.

Recent polls show Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Maes hovering at or below the 10 percent threshold necessary for the GOP to retain its status as a major party.

The victor between Maes� opponents, Democrat John Hickenlooper and American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo, could hold the future of the Republican Party in his hands.

If Maes receives less than 10 percent of the vote, Republicans are damned to spend the next four years as a minor party unless the Legislature changes the law. That change would require the governor�s signature to take effect.

Hickenlooper�s campaign evaded the question of whether he would be willing to sign into law a bill that would restore the GOP�s major-party status.

�We�re focused on making sure Coloradans get out and vote,� said George Merritt, spokesman for the Hickenlooper campaign.

Asked the same question, Tancredo answered: �If you mean would I sign a bill eliminating the differences between major and minor parties, the answer is yes.�

Minor parties in Colorado are prohibited from fundraising in uncontested primary races for any office in the state, which would put Republicans who are unchallenged for their party�s nomination at an economic disadvantage in general elections against candidates who can raise money for a full election cycle.

Another consequence of lapsing into minor party status is that it becomes easier to be a gubernatorial candidate, according to Rich Coolidge, spokesman for the Colorado Secretary of State�s Office.

Candidates for governor from major parties are required to gather the signatures of 1,500 voters from each of the state�s seven congressional districts. Minor party candidates need 1,000 voters� signatures from anywhere in the state to reach the ballot. That could make for a glut of Republican gubernatorial candidates in 2014, and leaves the door open to unvetted candidates representing the party.

In the 2012 presidential election, Republicans would be relegated to a drawing with other minor parties � Libertarian and Green Party, for instance � to determine their candidate�s placement on the Colorado ballot, somewhere below the major party candidates entitled to top billing.

Certain ramifications also await the American Constitution Party if it is elevated to a major party. Foremost among them is that its gubernatorial candidate in the next election would be required to gather a far greater number of signatures to reach the ballot, and the party would be required to establish precinct polling places for a formal caucus in 2012.

Both are burdensome requirements of a party that has just 2,906 registered members, according to the secretary of state�s office. Colorado�s voter rolls include 1,073,165 registered Democrats, 1,079,411 Republicans and 1,105,522 that are unaffiliated, by comparison.

Only the Legislature could restore the Republicans� major party status if Maes' percentage of the vote slips below 10 percent.

Even if Tancredo, who defected from the GOP to run on the American Constitution Party ticket, were elected and changed his party affiliation back to Republican, it would not change the party�s status.

�The definition of a major political party is a party that receives over 10 percent in a gubernatorial race,� Coolidge said.

Tancredo said he would be unlikely to rejoin the Republican Party unless it made some changes.

�The only reason I would consider returning to the Republican Party is if it reconstituted itself as a party dedicated to immutable conservative values,� he said.

Tancredo has sparred with Republican leaders at times � even while serving in Congress as a member of the GOP � over issues including government spending.

Whether the next governor is willing to sign a law reinstating the GOP as a major party could be a moot point if the Legislature fails to act, which is much more likely if Democrats are in charge.

�The Democratic majorities in the House and Senate are up for grabs, and the ongoing election could determine not only whether the GOP is the minority party, but whether it is a minor party.