Safety and security guidelines in place for the upcoming primary election in El Paso County

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Heading to the polls for the primary election next Tuesday might look different than voters are used to.

Due to COVID-19, the El Paso County clerk's office says changes have been inside polling centers, including:

• Face masks worn by all staff.
• Voters are encouraged to wear masks.
• A health screening check of staff before entering the VSPC.
• Voters are asked not to enter a VSPC if they have a temperature or COVID symptoms. 
• Plexiglass barriers at staff stations.
• Physical distancing personal – staff and voters will maintain.
• Physical distancing layout – voting areas and equipment positioned to allow for recommended distancing.
• Number of voters in the VSPC monitored to conform with recommended guidelines.
• Sanitizing workspaces, equipment, voting areas, supplies will be done by staff throughout the day.

At every polling center, a compliance judge is working to clean each station after a voter comes in to cast their vote.

More than 408,000 ballots were sent out to registered voters at the beginning of June. In order to reduce exposure, the clerk's office is encouraging voters to use non-contact polls.

“Voters’ health and safety is at the forefront of our minds this election cycle due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman in a release sent on June 8th.

But you can also avoid the polling center by placing your ballot in the mail or in a drop-off box. In March, KRDO reported Colorado is one of the safest state to cast a mail-in vote.

During the last general election, Colorado was one of 21 states targeted by suspected foreign hackers. Since then, our state has led the way in election security by investing more than $6 million to protect against cyber attacks.

"You cannot manipulate the outcome of elections in Colorado because we use a paper ballot," Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in March.

Broerman echoed his trust in Colorado's system.

"There's a lot of checks and balances. There's a lot of ways we document to the public that the results we give on election night are true, accurate and can be verified."

He's asking voters who haven't mail in their ballots yet to drop them off at a ballot box instead to ensure they make the 7 p.m. deadline on Tuesday evening.