Common Cause Colorado and its partners are preparing to expand a longstanding, nonpartisan election protection program during the midterm election with around 1,000 volunteer poll monitors, up from around 300 in 2024.

“These are neighbors and folks of all political affiliations who are united around one purpose: to support their neighbors to vote, to watchdog the process, keep the vibes positive and ensure that voters have the help they need at the polls,” Aly Belknap, executive director of Colorado Common Cause, said.

“The function of a poll monitor is to provide a culture of safety and support at the polls, and this is all part of preventing intimidation and political violence,” she said.

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A 2020 guide explains what rights voters have at the polls and who is there to help if trouble arises, covering the roles of monitors, observers, and legal hotlines.

The effort is part of the Election Protection Coalition, which also includes Disability Justice, formerly known as Disability Law Colorado, Mi Familia Vota, the League of Women Voters Colorado and the Colorado Lawyers Committee. Election observers and poll monitors are normal parts of American elections.

The expanded volunteer cohort comes as President Donald Trump and his administration try to interfere with local election administration and cast doubt on whether election results, especially in vote-by-mail states like Colorado, are trustworthy. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Trump’s bid to restrict mail-in ballots in November.

“We have to look at the overall intentions and rhetoric and political motivations of this president, which has consistently been to terrify voters and to create the impression that there will be law enforcement policing the process of being a voter,” Belknap said. “The concern we have at this time is just the level of fear for folks as they think about going to the polls this year.”

The U.S. Department of Justice also has plans to send 1,000 monitors across the country to watch election activity.

We have to look at the overall intentions and rhetoric and political motivations of this president, which has consistently been to terrify voters and to create the impression that there will be law enforcement policing the process of being a voter.

– Aly Belknap, Common Cause Colorado executive director

The coalition plans to respond with a “clear moral voice against authoritarian advances” that could be considered intimidation or interference with Colorado’s elections.

But Belknap said the goal for poll monitors is to have a “boring shift,” ask voters about their experience and report data such as a polling location’s accessibility and crowd size. They can report any issues to a nonpartisan hotline staffed with legal experts, and the response could vary from documenting whatever hiccup might occur, sending lawyers to a polling site or even dispatching faith leaders to diffuse tension.

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The volunteers will also be trained to observe and report U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Common Cause, Latino advocacy groups and the city of Denver sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice in September to stop any deployment of federal law enforcement, including ICE, to polling places. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin has said that ICE officers could conduct routine enforcement operations near polling locations. During California’s primary elections this year, ICE vehicles were spotted in a parking lot at a Ventura County voting center, raising alarm about voter intimidation.

Volunteers in Colorado will be “visible at the polls to support voters if there were to be the threat of ICE nearby,” Belknap said. But she also said there’s no reason right now to expect ICE agents at Colorado voting centers.

“We know that fear is the point. If Trump can make our communities fearful and it keeps people at home and scared to participate, he is accomplishing his goal,” Belknap said. “And so our job is to support our communities to vote and participate without fear.”

County clerks can start mailing ballots to voters Firday, and drop boxes will open around the state October 12. Election Day is November 3. Voters can check their registration and find answers to many common questions at GoVoteColorado.com.