The El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office has called in the help of the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management to coordinate the November election, ahead of safety concerns presented by a presidential election forecasting record turnout.

This will be the first year El Paso County has utilized the PPROEM in an election. Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker said the decision was based on past incidents of poll worker intimidation and ballot vandalism.

“There was a lot of thought and a lot of considerations I put into making this decision,” said Schleiker.

The PPROEM will help coordinate a law enforcement presence at each of the 38 voter service polling centers and many ballot boxes around the county. Schleiker said that the intent will be to monitor without law enforcement being visible to voters.

“That is a very fine line,” he said. “Some voters may feel intimidated with law enforcement there, and they may not want to cast their ballot.”

Schleiker said that the decision was in part due to feedback from election judges, who reported being followed to the bathroom, to their cars and to their homes in the most recent presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

“One of the big ones was safety,” he said. “Election judges felt unsafe.”

El Paso County released a call on Tuesday for more Republican and Democrat election judges. The county still needs 100 of each.

Schleiker said that the PPROEM will also activate hazmat resources, which have needed to be used in recent past elections. He said that election officials have received two mail-in ballots soaked in blood and urine, respectively, that must still be counted if filled out.

The El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is expecting more people than ever to turn out via mail in ballots and in person this November. Schleiker said that the office was projecting a similar percentage of registered voters as the last presidential elections. In 2020, 84% of registered voters cast a ballot. El Paso County projects about 88% will vote in 2024.

What has changed is the population of El Paso County. In 2016, about 327,000 votes were cast out of about 394,000 registered voters. In 2024, Schleiker projects about 435,000 ballots cast out of 495,000 estimated registered voters, with 37,000 voting in person.

Schleiker said that the scale of the election is coupled with increased emotion among voters heading into a presidential election.

“There is a lot of pent-up anxiety,” he said.

As always, Schleiker said his advice was for voters to cast their ballots as early as possible, both to speed results and make sure ballots come in on time to be counted.

“You just don’t want to be that voter who jumps in at 7:01 (p.m.),” he said.

The El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office will mail ballots to all active voters on Oct. 11.