Colorado clerks say they’re ready for anything, as feds plan election monitors

The Colorado County Clerks Association held a media tour and press conference in Boulder on Oct. 27 to reassure voters that clerks are staffed for high turnout in the Nov. 3 election and are preparing for a range of things that could go wrong, including interference from federal monitors. Federal officials, though, characterize the sending of election monitors as routine.

“Historically [the range of things that could go wrong] has been flood, fire, mass protest scenarios. We have added federal interference to the list,” Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick said, according to CPR News. She said clerks are working with local law enforcement, county partners, and the secretary of state’s office to make sure they follow the law and protect every vote.

Colorado Newsline reported that she said clerks will “go to the mattresses to make sure the voices of the voters are heard.” Summit County Clerk and Recorder Taryn Power urged voters to use a 24-hour drop box instead of U.S. mail this close to the election to avoid any delivery delays.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced in an Oct. 20 letter that it intends to send federal election monitors to Adams County, a deployment the department called routine, noting that the monitors would only observe. According to Colorado law, the monitors may not wear uniforms or Justice Department pins, talk to voters inside polling places, or carry firearms. 

A department spokesperson said the department prioritizes places with competitive elections, NPR reported. Adams County has a large Spanish-speaking contingent, making it fall under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires language assistance for non-native English speakers. The district is a toss-up and the state’s most competitive, with Republican Rep. Gabe Evans winning the 2024 election against the incumbent Democrat Yadira Caraveo by a mere 2,449 votes. Evans faces Democrat Manny Rutinel in the Nov. 3 general election. 

Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, issued an Oct. 29 press statement saying that the federal election monitors would be approved under strict conditions. 

“The DOJ must agree to our strict requirements to visit Adams County voting centers. DOJ personnel must be accompanied by our observers at all times, and they may not speak with voters inside a voter center, interrupt any election processes, or attempt to access any unauthorized area,” Griswold said. “I am confident that they will see what Coloradans see every November: excellent elections.”

Nationally, the department plans about 1,000 monitors for Nov. 3, according to a figure department head Harmeet Dhillon announced in August. A department official told CBS News the department sent 289 people to polling places in the 2022 midterms and 714 in 2024.

Fitzpatrick said threats against clerks and election judges, along with what she described as the President’s offer of $1 million for the successful prosecution of an election official, are intense and unprecedented. Trump offered on Truth Social to pay $1 million to “anybody reporting Voter Fraud in the past Elections, or the ​upcoming 2026 Midterm Election,” Fox 4 reported.

The state has already been in court with the department. Griswold’s office said Aug. 4 that a Justice Department lawsuit seeking unredacted voter registration data was dismissed with prejudice. The office said Colorado was one of at least 30 states sued over similar requests and that the department has lost 20 of those cases.

Colorado Newsline noted that election experts have raised a worst-case scenario in which the department orders ballots or equipment seized after Election Day, though it did not report that any such order exists. It also said former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a Trump ally whom Gov. Jared Polis granted clemency earlier this year, has reportedly discussed such a plan with Trump. 

Newsweek reported Oct. 9 that no source it found said Peters asked Trump to seize ballots, and that the White House declined to comment on a reported meeting between them.