Poll Watcher Appointments What is a Poll Watcher? There are three categories of observers who are permitted at polling places: “Official Observers” are appointed by the Colorado Secretary of State or by the federal government “Poll Watchers” are certified by your county Clerk and Recorder. “Media Observers” are credentialed members of the news media. View the Colorado Statutes and Colorado Secretary of State Rules for more detail on these categories of observers. Who May Appoint Poll Watchers Poll watchers may be appointed only by: a political party chairperson on behalf of the party a candidate in a nonpartisan election or an unaffiliated candidate, or a person designated by either the proponents or opponents of a ballot issue. If appointed by a party, poll watchers must be affiliated with that party. If selected by an unaffiliated candidate, poll watchers must be unaffiliated. Ballot opponents and proponents must be registered as such with the Colorado Secretary of State.   Watchers need not be registered to vote in the county where they are performing poll watching, but they must be registered to vote within Colorado. Candidates and family members of candidates may not be poll watchers in the precincts where the candidate is running for office.

How to Appoint Poll Watchers Party, candidate and registered issue committee representatives may fill out the Poll Watcher Appointment List spreadsheet or form below, listing those people they wish to give poll watcher status to and the service center where they will be assigned.    Please submit appointment lists as early as possible. We will start processing of the poll watcher certificates on or about Monday, October 19.    We strongly recommend that you do not wait until the last minute to submit them to us. An Excel spreadsheet is supplied below for this purpose. You may email the spreadsheet back to electionscomm@denvergov.org.     Certificates will be available beginning Friday, October 23 prior to the Monday opening of the service centers.   The Forms Poll Watcher Appointment Application Excel Spreadsheet  Poll Watcher Appointment Application PDF Form The Polling Place Lists (This list will be updated for the November 3, 2009 election.) The Rules Please print out and carefully read the state statute and Colorado Secretary of State rules below regarding poll watchers. Colorado Statute on Poll Watchers Colorado Secretary of State Rules on Poll Watchers

Certification of Poll Watchers Once your Appointment List is returned to the Denver Elections Division, the names will be checked for residency and voter registration status and the Elections Division will create the appropriate number of Appointment Certificates.    You must pick up the certificates in person from the Elections Division, and you will be responsible for obtaining the signature on each form of the party chair, issue committee representative or candidate representative. This portion of the form must be filled out and signed in order for the certification to be valid.

Watching During Ballot Drop Off Upon visiting a service center, poll watchers must present a completed and signed Poll Watcher Certificate to the election judge supervisor. Each poll watcher must have a poll watcher certification form for each polling place visited.   When the certificate is presented to the election judge at a service center, the election judge will administer the poll watcher oath. Then both the election judge and the poll watcher will sign the oath on the certificate.