Federal monitors will stay 100 feet from Adams County polls

Federal election monitors will observe Adams County polling sites from outside the buildings on Nov. 3.

The U.S. Justice Department declined terms set by Colorado officials that would have restricted monitor activities inside election buildings. The department stated that monitors will deploy to the sites but will not enter them. This decision follows a disagreement over how federal observers can interact with local election processes.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold outlined conditions for official observer approval in a letter sent to the department on Thursday. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division rejected those terms shortly after. The department announced that monitors will remain 100 feet from the buildings, in accordance with Colorado law. This distance keeps federal staff outside the physical space where voters cast ballots.

The Justice Department first notified Griswold and Adams County Clerk Josh Zygielbaum about the plan last week. The monitors are tasked with checking compliance with federal voting rights laws regarding language and accessibility. Colorado law requires the secretary of state’s office to approve official observers for elections. The state office outlined specific conditions for that approval in the rejected letter.

Under the state’s proposed terms, monitors would have needed accompaniment by observers from the secretary of state’s office inside any polling location. They would have been limited to speaking only with the presiding election official and taking notes in a designated area. The proposal barred monitors from speaking with voters, touching equipment, or entering areas inaccessible to the general public. These conditions mirrored the terms Justice attorney Jake Bachand outlined in a request letter to state officials on Oct. 27.

Bachand specified that four monitors would work in teams of two. Each team would cover between six and eight polling locations. Their duties include verifying that election materials are provided in both English and Spanish. They will also check that bilingual poll workers are available and that voters are allowed to bring someone to help them in the voting booth. Accessibility for people with disabilities is another key focus of the inspection.

Bachand wrote that monitors will not be near voting machines or the voting area at any time. They will not request to inspect machines, equipment, or poll books. The monitors will not attempt to speak with voters inside a polling place. They will not wear suits or display credentials to indicate they are from the Justice Department.

The four assigned monitors are James Freeman, a department attorney with three decades of experience. The other three are special assistant Atticus Yondorf, administrative specialist Ana Gomez Becerra, and paralegal Charisha Cruz, all from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver. The department plans to deploy around 1,000 monitors nationwide. Adams County is the only jurisdiction in Colorado set to be observed by federal monitors on Tuesday.

Adams County is a Democratic-majority county in the state’s 8th Congressional District. The race there is considered a toss-up and will help decide which party controls Congress. The department cited the county’s high number of Spanish-speaking voters as the reason for selection under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. State leaders expressed concern that the federal government is using the deployment to investigate counties with large non-English-speaking populations.

Colorado’s Democratic congressional delegation described the deployment as concerning amid other actions by the Trump administration to control elections. These actions include a lawsuit to access confidential voter information and efforts to limit mail-in voting. Many experts view these moves as an attempt to interfere with results, as Republicans are widely expected to lose control of at least the U.S. House and possibly the Senate. Adams County Clerk Josh Zygielbaum said his office is ready to help any voter who needs it on Tuesday. Election Day is Nov. 3, and more information about registering to vote is available at GoVoteColorado.gov.