Some county clerks in Colorado say they are getting death threats from election deniers
Some county clerks in Colorado have installed bulletproof glass after receiving death threats from election deniers. One clerk is even wearing a bulletproof vest.
Two of the clerks who have fielded the most attacks this election are in the most Republican parts of the state -- Weld and El Paso counties.
They say people they once thought of as allies are now among their antagonists.
"For last 2 years been it's been nonstop - innuendo, threats at all levels," said El Paso County Clerk Chuck Broerman, who is one of the last people you would expect Republicans to turn on.
A former county chair and state party vice chair, Broerman has been a staunch Republican party chieftain for decades. Now he's enemy No. 1 of election deniers.
"We've had threats where 'There will be blood on your hands' or 'You better watch out.'"
Weld County Clerk Carly Koppes is also a top target of conspiracy theorists, some of whom, she says, have issued death threats.
"It's not just attacking the integrity of the elections. Now, it's actually attacking us: the people who are administrating the elections," she said.
Both Republican clerks have been under attack since the 2020 election ended. They've had to beef up security, including installing cameras at their offices. Broerman even installed cameras at all 37 drop boxes,
"So far we've viewed 2,300 hours of video and have seen nothing that suggests ... anyone doing something that's inappropriate. We've put in additional layers of transparency and audits in place. We've held town halls, meetings, met with people one-on-one, phone calls. We went the whole nine yards for people to try and instill confidence in our voters."
Still, he says election judges are being followed and harassed and his employees are being inundated with open records requests.
Koppes says, in Weld County, election deniers threatened to camp out at ballot boxes 24-7 until she warned they'd be arrested.
She says she's constantly on guard, waiting for the next conspiracy theory to materialize.
"It really has been 7 days a week, because social media doesn't stop."
She has seven full time staff while Broerman has 10 employees. But they have hundreds of volunteers and, Koppes says, she has more watchers this election than ever before.
Both clerks are hoping voters are watching, too, and witnessing transparent, fair, secure elections.
It will be the last election Broerman oversees. He's running for county treasurer and, he says, he may pay a political price for not capitulating to election deniers.
"I've got to be able to look in the mirror every morning and look at that person in the mirror and know I did right thing. So if is the end of my political career, so be it."
Broerman has the longest ballot in the state and Koppes has the most complicated ballot. She has to print 340 different styles to include four congressional districts, five state senate districts, seven state house districts, and 500 special districts. She says, so far, everything has gone off smoothly. And she intends to keep it that way.
"Just remind myself I'm here to do my job to the best of my ability and I'm going to do that every single day I come into work and they're not going to deter me from that."
Broerman and Koppes say election deniers are telling voters to wait until 3 p.m. election day to cast their ballots. It's unclear why they are doing so but, the clerks say, voters may experience long lines and results may be delayed until Wednesday.