A federal judge has agreed to put limits on a group monitoring outdoor ballot drop boxes in Arizona, but within narrow confines that would not affect their constitutional right to gather.
A voter casts their ballot at a secure ballot drop box at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. – A federal judge on Tuesday ordered armed members of a group monitoring ballot drop boxes in Arizona to stay at least 250 feet away from the locations following complaints that people wearing masks and carrying guns were intimidating voters.
“It is paramount that we balance the rights of the defendant to engage in their constitutionally protected First Amendment activity with the interest in the plaintiffs and in voters casting a vote free of harassment and intimidation,” Liburdi said. Sheriff’s deputies have been providing security around the two outdoor drop boxes in Maricopa County after a pair of people carrying guns and wearing bulletproof vests showed up at a box in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. The county’s other 24-hour outdoor drop box is at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in downtown Phoenix, which is now surrounded by a chain link fence.
The temporary order issued by Liburdi on Tuesday will be in effect for two weeks and the cooperation from the monitoring group “shall not be construed as an admission they have engaged in any of these activities,” the judge added.Other stipulations include the groups post on their websites and social media that it is untrue that dropping off multiple ballots is illegal in all cases. Exceptions are allowed for family members, members of the same household and caregivers.
“Today’s U.S. District Court decision is a victory for the voters of Arizona who have the right to cast their ballots free from intimidation, threats, or coercion,” Pinny Sheoran, the group’s president, said in a statement.Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans failed to make its argument against Clean Elections USA. Another defendant, Voto Latino, was also removed from the case.
Luke Cilano, a Lions of Liberty board member, said the organization had dropped its “Operation Drop Box” initiative last Wednesday “due to being lumped in with people who don't adhere to the law and our rules of engagement.”
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