§11-77  Appointment of watchers; service. (a)  Each qualified political party shall be entitled to appoint no more thanone watcher who may be present at any time in each precinct and absenteepolling place in which the candidates of that political party are on theballot.  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 theclerk in county elections.  All watchers shall serve without expense to theState or county.  All watchers so appointed shall be registered voters.  Noperson shall serve as a watcher who could not qualify to serve as a precinctofficial under section [11-72(b)(3)].

(b)  Each watcher shall be provided withidentification from the chief election officer, or by the clerk in the case ofcounty elections, stating the watcher's name and the name of the party thewatcher represents.  On election day the watcher shall present identificationto the chairperson of precinct officials of the precinct or precincts where thewatcher is to serve.

(c)  All watchers for precincts shall bepermitted to observe the conduct of the election in the precinct.  The watchersmay remain in the precinct as long as the precinct is in operation subject tosection 19-6.  Watchers may review the polling book pursuant to section 11-97.

(d)  The watcher shall call the attention ofthe chairperson to any violations of the election laws that the watcherobserves.  After the chairperson's attention is called to the violation thechairperson shall make an attempt to correct such violation.  If thechairperson fails to correct the violation, the watcher may appeal to the clerkof the county.

(e)  The watchers shall be permitted to observethe operations of the absentee polling place.  Any violation of the electionlaws 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, pollwatchers may record the names of those who have voted.  54 H. 254, 506 P.2d 13.