A poll watcher had to be escorted out of a clerk’s office for not following the rules. Extra patrols have been added around Denver’s 45 ballot boxes to make sure they stay safe. In Wheat Ridge, people called authorities because they didn’t like their neighbors’ yard signs with foul language. And in Grand Junction, stolen ballots were reported by people who received emails saying they voted when they didn’t.

Law enforcement in Colorado is busier than ever responding to calls about election security — some real and some imagined.

But because the presence of law enforcement near polling places and ballot boxes can be perceived as a nuisance, chiefs and sheriffs say they try to balance frivolous calls for duty and shared neighbor-to-neighbor tension over political elections. with legitimate threats to a democratic outcome.

“We’re trying to balance the idea of ​​providing our protective element of service with the idea that not everyone is comfortable seeing us,” said Wheat Ridge Police Chief Chris Murtha. “We never want to be accused of being the group that discourages people from voting.”

Federal law enforcement in Colorado held emergency drills at the Ball Arena because of an Avs game that night, which is the largest planned crowd gathering in Colorado on Nov. 5.

There will also be a command post set up on Monday and disbanded midweek as needed, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek.

There are no specific threats in Colorado

Nationally, federal officials have warned that foreign adversaries are using false or misleading narratives to undermine confidence in the 2024 election. Michalek said there have been no specific threats of that nature in Colorado, but warned of threats of violence against election officials .

Just two weeks ago, a The Cortez man pleaded guilty to make a series of online threats against election officials in Colorado and Arizona, including a judge and law enforcement officials.

On a social media account, the man, Teak Brockbank, posted: “I live in Communist Colorado and this crazy liberal and many others in Communist Colorado need to – she doesn’t need to hang herself, she needs to hang by the neck until she’s dead , dead. , dead.”

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said earlier this year that she was the target of Brockbank’s threats.

Ballot theft under investigation

West Slope authorities say they are continuing to investigate how more than a dozen mail-in ballots were stolen before being delivered to their recipients and then discarded by someone else.

State officials said at a news conference that three of those ballots went through and were counted before being caught by a signature identifier. Authorities were alerted when voters said they received an email verifying they had voted when they hadn’t even received their ballots yet. No one has been arrested so far in this case, but the investigation is ongoing.

Matt Bloom/CPR News

In Gilpin County, a GOP vote watcher was kicked out of the county administration building and fired from his supervisor duties after disrupting county clerk employees, Gilpin County Clerk Sahari McCormick said.

“It was unfortunate that poll workers, county staff and voters were caught up in the drama,” McCormick said. “Everyone needs to be reassured that those who process ballots are committed to their role, take their oath seriously and work hard to serve voters.”

A sheriff’s deputy said he decided not to cite the woman, Donna Okray Parman.

In an online post of the incident, Parman said the officer was “just doing his job.”

“He had to respond to Sahari’s complaint and he said he didn’t want to arrest me,” Parman said. “He only arrested one other grandmother, but it was for DUI. This was probably less interesting to him.”

Illegal voting is rare

In the 11 years that Pueblo District Attorney Jeff Chostner has been at the helm, he said there have been two illegal voting convictions and he has investigated others.

In both convictions, the legally registered voter testified that the signature on the ballot was not theirs and was illegally filed by someone else.

Shanna Lewis/KRCC News

Chostner said that in the most recently completed election, in 2023, Chostner sent more than 900 letters to voters with signature problems, as if the signature on the ballot did not match what they signed when they registered to vote.

“In almost every potential case, the voter’s signature has been suspect because of a variation in the nature of the signature itself due to illness, age, infirmity,” Chostner said. “In all cases, individuals had to certify to my investigators that the signature on the ballot was the same as the signature on the original registration document.”

Peace in the capital

Denver police say the 2024 election cycle has been relatively quiet in the state’s largest city with the most ballot boxes and polling places, but they still have off-duty officers around the most trafficked boxes.

To date, no citations or arrests have been made related to the election.

Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

“At this time, no threats have been identified in Denver,” DPD spokesman Doug Schepman said. “Off-duty officers are present at ballot drop-off locations to assist with traffic flow and address safety issues.”

Wheat Ridge Chief Murtha said election security duty is just one thing officers are asked to do now that wasn’t part of their duties when he started decades ago.

He has been patrolling the polls since mailing boxes were set on fire last week in Washington. He said he doesn’t have anyone on staff at drop boxes at all times, but he does have officers write reports in their cars within sight of the area.

“It gets very emotional for people, and we feel that,” Murtha said. “For me, I’m worried about everything all the time, so it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, I worry either way. It comes with the job.”