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County Commissioners v. Fifty-first General Assembly, 198 Colo. 302, 599 P.2d 887 (1979).Two county boards sued the State Board of Equalization. The counties argued that theunderlying statute was unconstitutional and that they would ignore directives form the StateBoard of Equalization requiring compliance. The Court rejected the counties’ argument. Inparticular, the Court concluded, “Because counties and their subordinate agencies are notindependent political entities, counties and their officers have no standing to contest directivesgiven them by the state. Id. 198 Colo. at 305, 599 P.2d at 889. The Court concluded thatcounties are subordinate agencies and have no right to refuse to perform ministerial dutiesbecause they in good faith have concluded that others may be injuriously affected. Counties arepart of the state and are subject to directives issued by state officers.Clerk Johnson argues that the promulgation of the rules is irrelevant because theSecretary’s complaint was based on an order that the Secretary issued rather than the rules thatwere promulgated in 2012. This argument misstates the core of the case. The Complaint is notbased on the form of the instruction and mandate from the Secretary. The Complaint is basedupon the failure of Clerk Johnson to obey the substance of the command from the Secretary. Theform of the instruction is not material.For these reasons, the Court must conclude that the Clerk Johnson must obey the rulesand orders of the Secretary, including those regarding “inactive-failed to vote” electors, even ifshe believes that the Secretary’s orders or interpretations are incorrect as a matter of law.C. THE MAIL BALLOT STATUTE DOES NOT PERMIT THE COUNTIES TOSEND MAIL BALLOTS TO VOTERS WHO ARE CATEGORIZED AS“INACTIVE-FAILED TO VOTE.”17