ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — Election monitors from the Department of Justice will have to stay outside of voting centers on Election Day. This, after the DOJ declined the parameters set by the Colorado Secretary of State's Office for that monitoring to occur.
The DOJ notified the Secretary of State's Office that they plan to send four monitors to Adams County.
Emails sent from the DOJ to the Secretary of State's Office show the DOJ outlined the monitors would be in plain clothes with no visible identification, they would check in with the voting center official, and silently observe what they saw.
The DOJ said the specific purpose of the monitoring would be to make sure election materials were being provided in English and Spanish, and people who were bilingual were getting correct assistance. They also will monitor if the voting center was accessible to people with disabilities.
The DOJ said their monitors would not speak with voters, would not request access to voting machines and would only speak with the voting center official. The monitors would work in teams of two and spend time at 12-16 total locations.
"DOJ monitors have no right to enter voting centers unless we give them approval, and then they would only be entering for their stated purposes of: Ensuring that voting equipment was accessible to Coloradans as required by federal law, and that materials were in Spanish," said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
On Thursday, The Secretary of State's Office released their parameters that DOJ monitors would need to follow to get approval to enter voting locations.
The majority of the restrictions overlapped with what the DOJ stated as their planned method; however, there were added restrictions that stated monitors could only be in a specific location inside as chosen by the Secretary of State. The monitors would have to be accompanied by observers, also chosen by the Secretary of State.
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"I think we want to set reasonable parameters to make sure there is transparency, but at the same time, observe what federal officials would be doing, and if they do not feel comfortable with that, that is totally their choice," said Griswold. "Colorado election rule clearly states that DOJ monitors have to get an approval letter from my office to be able to enter a voting center, and if they don't like our reasonable parameters, well, they decided to stay outside."
The Secretary of State's Office said they believe the request for observers is what made the DOJ decline the parameters. Griswold said they received the following response from the DOJ:
"Thank you for your letter. While we appreciate your efforts to accommodate us, we will have to decline your offer. Our monitors will remain outside of polling places and not come within 100 feet of the building in accordance with Colorado state law.”
Denver7 reached out to the DOJ for comment on this development and to learn more information about how they intend to monitor accessibility and language of election materials from outside voting centers. We have not received a response as of publication.
"What was the intention or purpose behind having observers paired up with the monitors?" asked Denver7's Danielle Kreutter.
"We have seen, obviously, Trump weaponize the DOJ," Griswold said. "DOJ monitors do not have a right under federal law to access voting locations, so we wanted to make sure that if they enter, that there would be observers along with them, to ensure that Colorado law and, of course, federal law was being followed on Election Day."
