A tale of poll watching from deep red Douglas County to a diverse blue part of Denver: Douglas fairgrounds was a rural land of Ag Carhartt, Trump flags & lots of horn honking. I took the oath & introduced myself to the other poll watcher saying “You must be my GOP colleague” 1/6

He snapped: “You must mean the party of freedom and liberty!” He didn’t speak to me again The flow of voters was brisk, orderly & polite. A handful anti-maskers were safely sent to isolated booths. Outside a few Trump trucks parked just outside the electioneering limit. 2/5

A new, friendly GOP poll watcher took over & we got along well. Poll workers took good care of the few students and voters of color. Some first time voters got a friendly round of applause. An older voter had a mail ballot meltdown but judges and supervisor were totally pros. 3/6

Now off to Denver, Montbello HS.
Big space w lots of poll workers & more tech than Douglas but fewer voters because many had already voted. My fellow GOP watcher was super nice & we got along great. Poll workers would jump up & practically fight over a voters as they arrived 4/6

An issue at Montbello was several voters from Aurora or Adams Co who could only vote statewide issues from the Denver location. The beauty was voter diversity & youth w many students & first time voters. Several young voters brought their grandparents. A great day 5/6

Takeaways: 1. CO is good at this 2. There are kind, decent, honest Coloradans who don’t share our politics 3. We must find safe places to laugh & talk and begin to heal 4. Some have hate and mistrust and aren’t ready. 5. Some will never be ready. #COPolitics #2020Elections 6/6