After announcing a plan for federal monitors in Adams County, the U.S. Department of Justice will monitor Adams County polling places from outside the 100-foot limit.
Federal leaders initially announced their plan to monitor the election, but local leaders raised red flags over concerns of federal interference. In the end, federal election monitors could not agree to terms with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office to allow the monitors inside any of the voting centers.
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Local leaders believe Adams County is being targeted by the Justice Department because the county resides in the very competitive and apportioned 8th Congressional District, where Republican incumbent Gabe Evans is battling Democratic challenger Manny Rutinel.
Observers say the winner of the 8th could decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.
Marty Lenz spoke with Adams County Clerk and Recorder Josh Zygielbaum on Adams County's election day preparations and his thoughts on the federal presence at county polling locations.
Marty Lenz: I'll start there. I know you had a conversation with the DOJ about coming out to Adams County to observe. Can you talk about that conversation and their rationale for doing so?
Josh Zygielbaum: Yeah, sure can. Thanks for having me on this morning. The DOJ contacted my office as well as the Secretary's office. I guess a week and a half ago, they expressed that they wanted to observe our language access as well as our overall accessibility for handicapped voters. They wanted to come into our vote centers to do so. The secretary's office did approve that with some stipulations surrounding what specifically they could do while there, and ultimately the DOJ rejected that. Now the process is normal. This is wasn't singling out the DOJ in any way, shape, or form. Any time an observer wants to come in, they do have to go through a process of approval with the Secretary of State's office, and there can be stipulations placed. And so, this was a normal part of that process. The DOJ has turned it down, and they are opting now to stand 100 feet or more outside of our voting locations, whether it's Dropbox or a vote center, and observe from there.
Marty Lenz: Did DOJ send observers to Adams in 2024?
Josh Zygielbaum: They did not send observers here in 2022. Our counterization changed under the Voting Rights Act, so we now fall under Section 203 that requires Adams County to produce ballots in both English and in Spanish, along with other election materials, and so they did come in. They were wonderful partners. They helped us identify which documents, which posters, which signs. Helped us with what some of the best practices are to implement this process. And at the time, they were wonderful partners, wonderful consultants. This is definitely coming in as a slightly different capacity, though.
Marty Lenz: I was going to ask that because I understand Adams County, as you point out, is close to 30% of the population being English second language, predominantly Spanish speaking. So, do you think that plays a role in their presence, or as you say, do you think this has had a little different feel and coming under a little different auspices?
Josh Zygielbaum: I do think it plays a role in it. I question what their motives are, especially when given the access that they were hoping for and the access they were requesting, to then turn around and say no, we don't want to do it anymore. Just raised some questions in my mind about what their actual goal in being in the vote centers was. But as far as you know, them coming to join us here, we have observers all the time. So for us, it's really business as usual. We have observers and watchers coming from various organizations around the country. We've had international observers before. We have watchers coming in from campaigns. So for us, this is really a normal part of our process. Doesn't change a whole lot of what we do, and I'm just a little bit curious as to what their end goal is in all this.
Marty Lenz: Have community members expressed concerns about that federal presence?
Josh Zygielbaum: They have on both sides. People are passionate all the way around, and some are very concerned that it is to try to inhibit voters from voting, to scare them off. Others are very supportive of it, thinking that there's rampant fraud in elections, and that the DOJ is going to be there to stop it. So I've heard it from both sides.
Marty Lenz: And you're going to have poll workers. What is exactly their role?
Josh Zygielbaum: So the poll workers, the elections are actually run by the community. The election itself, my office, only has 13 or 14 full-time people in it. To run an election, especially one like a midterm or a general. We have to ramp up quite a bit. We ended up hiring a little over 600 election workers for this particular election, and these are members of the community. They're people that you see at the grocery store, may live next to. It could be a relative, a friend, somebody you go to church with. I mean, these are people that live in the community and they volunteer their time to come in and run the election. So they'll be the ones welcoming the voters, helping them register if need be, updating the registration if need be. They'll be printing them out the appropriate ballot, helping them get where they need to go, and then collecting that ballot as the voter exits.
Marty Lenz: What should we be asking as citizens and voters about a federal presence, and is there anything that we should be asking that hasn't been asked of you that we should know?
Clerk Josh Zygielbaum: Well, I think the questions have already been asked, and the question really is: what's the ultimate goal here, and why is Adams County truly interested in protecting the right to vote in all of Congressional District Eight? Why not go to all three counties involved, and not just the one? That tends to lean left, but really, I think that the most important thing to get out to voters is that you don't have to speak with them. You don't have to speak with anybody. These individuals are not law enforcement. They don't have badges. They don't have guns. They'll be in plain clothes. Really, very nondescript. There won't be a way to tell them from anybody else, but they may approach you when you are entering or exiting the polls. You're not under any obligation to speak with them. You know, if you choose to speak, more power to you. Have at it. If you choose not to, just keep on walking. Don't get into any sort of altercation with them. There's no need to increase tensions or escalate anything. I'd recommend just going about your business.
