Press encountered restrictions at polls in Colorado

Two counties in Colorado took steps to limit press access to polling stations Tuesday, but local officials there said it was not their intent to tamper with the news media, The Associated Press reported.

Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson told the wire service she ordered election officials to stop reporters and cameramen from entering polling stations, unless they had permission, for fear of bothering voters or disrupting the process. A journalist who showed up at one polling station where voting irregularities had been reported was turned away.

In El Paso County, according to The AP, Clerk Bob Balink maintained there is no guarantee of press access to an election; journalists there had to get permission before showing up at the polls. 

Balink told The AP, "The only people who are supposed to be at the polling places are people trying to vote and the poll watchers."