§ 1-13.5-602 — Watchers - definition

Colorado § 1-13.5-602

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 01: Elections
• Art.: Colorado Local Government Election Code

Text

(1) (a) (I) Each candidate for office, or
interested party in case of a ballot issue or ballot question, at a local government
election is entitled to appoint an eligible elector to act on his or her behalf in every
polling place in which he or she is a candidate or in which the issue or question is on
the ballot; except that neither a current candidate for director nor any immediate
family member, to the second degree, of such candidate is eligible to serve as a
watcher for that candidate.

(II) As used in this section, interested party means an issue committee
whose issue is on the ballot.

(b) The candidates or interested parties shall certify the name of the persons
so appointed to the designated election official on forms provided by the
designated election official. If multiple names are certified to the designated
election official for or against any ballot issue or ballot question, and the
designated election official reasonably determines that multiple watchers will
impede the conduct of the election, the designated election official may, by lot,
reduce the number of watchers to one for and one against the ballot issue or ballot
question for each location to be watched.

(c) In case a watcher must leave the polling place, the watcher may
designate an alternate to act on his or her behalf while he or she is absent if the
alternate is made known to the election judges by an affidavit of the person first
named as a watcher. A watcher serving at the polling place has the right to remain
inside the polling place from at least fifteen minutes prior to the opening of the
polls until after the completion of the count of votes cast at the election and the
certification of the count by the election judges. Each watcher may maintain a list
of eligible electors as the names are announced by the election judges and witness
each step in the conduct of the election.

(2) Watchers shall take an oath administered by one of the election judges
that they are eligible electors, that their name has been submitted to the
designated election official as a watcher for this election, and that they will not in
any manner make known to anyone the result of counting votes until the polls have
closed.

(3) Watchers shall not:

(a) Interrupt or disrupt the processing, verification, or counting of any ballots
or any other stage of the election;

(b) Write down any ballot numbers or any other identifying information about
the electors;

(c) Handle the pollbooks, affidavits and self-affirmations, ballots, mail ballot
envelopes, absentee ballot envelopes, voting or counting machines, or machine
components;

(d) Interfere with the orderly conduct of any election process, including
issuance of ballots, receiving of ballots, and voting or counting of ballots;

(e) Interact with election officials or election judges except for the individual
identified by the designated election official; or

(f) Have a cellular phone, camera, recording device, laptop or tablet, or other
electronic data capture device in the polling place.

(4) A designated election official may remove a watcher upon finding that
the watcher commits or encourages fraud in connection with his or her duties,
violates any of the limitations outlined in this article, violates his or her oath, or is
abusive or threatening toward election officials or any other person.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2014: Entire article added, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 21, � 6, effective February 18. L. 2016: (1)(a)(I) amended, (HB 16-1442), ch. 313, p. 1268, � 7, effective August 10.