Gilpin County election watcher dismissed while observing signature verification

GILPIN COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) -- The Gilpin County Clerk dismissed an election watcher on Tuesday who was watching the signature verification process after a disagreement on how close the watcher could be to the poll worker's station.

An election watcher is a fairly new addition to the ballot counting process, born from former President Donald Trump's proven-to-be-false claims of election fraud in 2020.

According to the Secretary of State's office, an election watcher is "an eligible voter who has been appointed by an authorized appointing entity to witness and verify the conduct of an election." Election watchers also must complete a 10-minute training course. They are essentially another layer of security and transparency in the ballot-counting process.

They can also have many duties, according to the Secretary of State's office. This includes:

• Setup and breakdown of voter service and polling centers
• Voter check-in and registration
• Ballot receipt and processing
• Signature verification of mail ballot envelopes
• Ballot duplication and tabulation
• The Logic and Accuracy Test and post-election audit
• Provisional ballot processing
• Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act ballot processing
• Canvassing
• Recounts

"Watchers must be permitted access that would allow them to attest to the accuracy of election-related activities," the Secretary of State's Office states on its website. "This includes personal visual access at a reasonable proximity to read documents, writings or electronic screens and reasonable proximity to hear election-related discussions between election judges and electors."

Donna Okray Parman has lived in Gilpin County for about ten years, and while she participated in elections before then, she only recently turned her attention to that of an election watcher.

"I’m interested in free and fair elections so I thought well, if I can contribute at all I’d be happy to do it," Parman said.

She became an election watcher for the 2024 primary election and decided to do it again for the November 2024 general election as well.

"What the watchers are supposed to do is -- must do -- is be able to read the ballot envelope and the screen and hear what the judges are saying to the electors," Parman said.

But she said when she arrived, she could tell the chair was going to be too far away.

"This clerk has taped off a square on the floor with a chair inside of it, four to five feet away from the ballot," Parman said. "I couldn’t see a thing. So, I scooched my chair about three inches across the blue line and I craned my neck to see it. I couldn’t see anything."

In regards to the placement of the chair, Sahari McCormick, Gilpin County Clerk, said in an email to FOX31, "We set up space where a watcher can be, in general, within 4 or 5 feet of the worker. The watcher is able to see everything and attest to the validity of the work being conducted."

In a press release, the county clerk's office said, "Moving chairs closer to the worker and work station is not permitted. Workers are provided space so they can work unencumbered. If a watcher refuses to abide by these rules, they can be dismissed."

But Parman said she could not see, so she told McCormick about the dilemma.

"I said, ‘Sahari, I can’t see that ballot.’ And she said, ‘You’re not supposed to see it. It’s not your job. You’re just a watcher, you’re not a judge. That’s not your business to see the envelope.’"

McCormick also asked her to move her chair back into the blue-taped square. After some back and forth, with Parman continuing to ask McCormick about the rules of an election watcher, McCormick then dismissed Parman.

"This watcher was dismissed for disrupting the process and insisting they were going to verify the signatures themselves," McCormick wrote. "This is not the role of the watcher. This watcher was given several warnings before being dismissed. After refusing to leave the election room, the Sheriff was called to remove her."

The Gilpin County Sheriff, Sean Wheeler, told FOX31 that a deputy responded to the voting center to assist the Gilpin County Clerk, who had requested the poll watcher's removal.

“The Deputy resolved the situation peacefully, and the poll watcher left the area without incident. No charges were filed," the sheriff wrote to FOX31.

Parman said this is proof elections in Gilpin County could potentially be rigged by not having a second pair of eyes to check the ballot signatures.

"The only person that she’s allowing any person to do anything with is the one judge. And they may be reputable and honest, but they may miss something," Parman said. "This is really to find the ballots that are not fair, not real. They need a second look. That’s what it’s about."