ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send election monitors to Adams County on Nov. 3, according to a letter sent to the Colorado secretary of state on Oct. 21.
The letter, addressed to Secretary Griswold, says the department’s Civil Rights Division intends to send the monitors. The regional coordinator assigned to supervise them in the state wrote the letter.
The letter says the monitoring is done in the same way as in the past. It describes the monitors’ role as limited.
“Our monitors only observe and take notes,” the letter states.
According to the letter, monitors will introduce themselves to the poll manager and show government identification. If the jurisdiction wants each monitor identified, they will also present a letter from the jurisdiction allowing them into the polls with their names listed.
The letter says monitors follow all state and local rules and dress in business casual clothing. Uniforms and pins identifying them as Department of Justice staff are not allowed.
Monitors do not talk to voters inside polling places, the letter states. They are also forbidden from carrying firearms, even in a state that allows open carry.
If monitors see an election issue, they notify their team lead for the jurisdiction, according to the letter. The team lead or the regional coordinator may then contact the jurisdiction’s designee about the issue.
The Civil Rights Division will hold a Microsoft Teams meeting with each jurisdiction it is monitoring to explain its effort and discuss any specific issues it is focused on there, the letter says. As an example, it says monitors will check for compliance with the minority language provisions of the Voting Rights Act if the jurisdiction is covered by them.
In general, the letter says, the division is monitoring for compliance with federal voting rights laws that fall under its authority. It lists the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, the Civil Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act. The letter says monitors also check for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The letter does not say how many monitors will be sent, which polling places they will visit or why Adams County was chosen.
Denver7 has reached out to the Adams County Clerk & Recorder for more information.
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