Judge Sides with DOJ in Voter Intimidation Lawsuit in Arizona
As people across the country seek to do their civic duty and vote in this year’s midterm elections, a startling trend has emerged: Aggressive and sometimes armed poll watchers harassing voters. In Arizona, the Department of Justice has supported a voter intimidation lawsuit geared towards discouraging these actions. [1] The lawsuit, which includes The League of Women Voters of Arizona and the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans as plaintiffs, comes as polls across the country have become metaphorical ideological battlegrounds. [2] The lawsuit alleges that multiple right-wing groups have sent people to the polls with the express orders to videotape voters, many of which were armed and in tactical gear. [3]
The ability for someone to cast a vote that is unequivocally their own opinion is a vital and necessary right that must be preserved for any semblance of a functioning democracy to survive. Sadly, that right has been systemically eroded, both by conservative judges (and Justices) and by those who continuously question the validity of elections. The reality is that voters in key swing states like Arizona face unfair and undemocratic hardships like their voter ID laws simply to be able to deposit a ballot (which the Department of Justice has sued as well) [4], and this latest lawsuit represents yet another hurdle in what is supposed to be a constitutionally guaranteed right. [5]
On Tuesday, the judge in the suit sided with the Department of Justice, issuing a temporary restraining order barring certain activities within the vicinity of ballot boxes. As a part of the order, Judge Michael Liburdi said that the group Clean Elections USA were barred from yelling at or speaking to voters and openly carrying firearms within 250 feet of the ballot box. [6] In addition, the Judge ordered Clean Elections USA to post on Truth Social that it is legal to drop off multiple ballots, which conflicts with a false post made in the past by the group. [7] This order ends a legal saga that would be shameful for any democracy, yet since the truth has been under attack for years, the pathetic actions of Clean Elections USA only serve as yet another example in an ever growing list of shameful actions.
