§11-77 - Appointment of watchers; service.
§11-77 Appointment of watchers; service. (a) Each qualified political party shall be entitled to appoint no more than one watcher who may be present at any time in each precinct and absentee polling place in which the candidates of that political party are on the ballot. Each party shall submit its list of watchers not later than 4:30 p.m. on the tenth day prior to any election to the chief election officer or to the clerk in county elections. All watchers shall serve without expense to the State or county. All watchers so appointed shall be registered voters. No person shall serve as a watcher who could not qualify to serve as a precinct official under section [11-72(b)(3)].
(b) Each watcher shall be provided with identification from the chief election officer, or by the clerk in the case of county elections, stating the watcher's name and the name of the party the watcher represents. On election day the watcher shall present identification to the chairperson of precinct officials of the precinct or precincts where the watcher is to serve.
(c) All watchers for precincts shall be permitted to observe the conduct of the election in the precinct. The watchers may remain in the precinct as long as the precinct is in operation subject to section 19-6. Watchers may review the polling book pursuant to section 11-97.
(d) The watcher shall call the attention of the chairperson to any violations of the election laws that the watcher observes. After the chairperson's attention is called to the violation the chairperson shall make an attempt to correct such violation. If the chairperson fails to correct the violation, the watcher may appeal to the clerk of the county.
(e) The watchers shall be permitted to observe the operations of the absentee polling place. Any violation of the election laws shall be reported to the clerk. [L 1970, c 26, pt of §2; am L 1973, c 217, §1(z); am L 1977, c 189, §1(6); am L 1983, c 34, §7; am L 2005, c 201, §4]
Case Notes
Under authority to observe the conduct of the election, poll watchers may record the names of those who have voted. 54 H. 254, 506 P.2d 13.