In an Oct. 21 letter to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, DOJ Civil Rights Division trial attorney Jake Bachand said the monitors would observe whether the county is complying with federal voting-rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Help America Vote Act.

Bachand said the team would observe rather than interfere with voting, would not speak to voters inside polling places and would follow state and local rules. Monitors would wear business-casual clothing and would not use DOJ uniforms or identifying pins, he wrote.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold said her office is reviewing the request with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. She told Bachand that state rules require people without specific federal authorization, a court order or a settlement agreement to be appointed as official observers before entering nonpublic election spaces. Griswold said Colorado is not covered by relevant court orders or agreements and that the federal statutes cited by DOJ do not, in her view, authorize access to those spaces.

The secretary of state’s office is treating the DOJ letter as a request for official observer status under Colorado law. Approved observers would receive an authorization letter to present to a county clerk or designee when they arrive at an election facility.

The department also sent a notice to Douglas County, but later said that was an error.

Adams County is the largest county by voter population in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, where Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans faces Democratic challenger Manny Rutinel. The race is considered a toss-up by multiple election forecasters and could affect control of the U.S. House. The district has shifted between the parties since it was created.

About half of Adams County voters wait until Election Day to cast a ballot, County Clerk and Recorder Josh Zygielbaum said. The county has 519,572 residents, including more than 216,000 who are Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Unaffiliated voters number more than 242,000, exceeding the county’s Democratic and Republican voters combined; Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 26,000.

Rutinel’s campaign said it was concerned about the planned deployment, calling for voters to be able to cast ballots without intimidation and election workers to do their jobs without interference. The campaign also asked why Adams County was singled out. Evans’s campaign had not responded to a request for comment.

Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said state officials could observe the federal monitors to ensure they follow the rules. Colorado’s election rules restrict poll watchers from speaking with voters, require clerks to verify their status and mandate state-approved training before they observe election activities.

Crane said Colorado election officials have nothing to hide, while criticizing the DOJ’s record on election-related legal disputes. “There’s nothing wrong with observing the observers to make sure they follow the law,” he said.

The planned visit follows DOJ monitoring activity in other states. During Wyoming’s August primary, Bachand and another DOJ attorney visited polling places; reporting cited in the source said the attorneys did not notify state election officials in advance and tried to interview voters and examine voting machines. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon asked the state attorney general to investigate. DOJ has said its monitoring work is intended to promote transparency and compliance with federal law.