PHOENIX, AZ — Two lawsuits have been filed in federal court to ask a judge to stop what some call ‘vigilante’ surveillance of ballot drop boxes in Arizona.
It comes after ABC15 reported voter intimidation complaints in Maricopa County, including armed individuals in tactical gear this past weekend.
On Friday, an incident involved armed individuals with tactical gear outside of the Mesa ballot box.
And last Wednesday, a complaint filed stated that a voter approached a group on the sidewalk asking what group they were with. “They asked why I wanted to know, well it’s because it’s a personal attack,” the complaint read. “They basically said they’re taking pictures looking for some fantasy BS on the voting citizenry.”
On Monday, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino.
The defendant listed in the complaint is Clean Elections USA, and the founder Melody Jennings, “an organization founded by Defendant Melody Jennings, gathered at ballot drop boxes in Maricopa County with the express purpose of deterring voters—who Defendants irrationally fear are 'ballot mules'—from depositing their ballots.”
The second lawsuit was filed by the League of Women Voters of Arizona, going after more defendants, including Lions of Liberty LLC, Clean Elections USA, Yavapai County Preparedness Team, Jim Arroyo, Lucas Cilano, and others.
“No voter should have to confront armed individuals or be baselessly accused of fraud just for exercising their fundamental right to vote,” said Pinny Sheoran, President of the League of Women Voters of Arizona, the plaintiffs. “The actions of the defendants, in this case, are textbook voter intimidation. We’ve talked to voters who have in fact been intimidated into not voting, and it’s not hard to see why.”
The League of Women Voters is seeking an injunction and a court order declaring a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and a violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871—which they said in a press release prohibits conspiracies to suppress voters “by force, intimidation or threat.”
“What’s happening here in Arizona—groups fueled by conspiracy theories working in concert to threaten and intimidate voters from exercising their constitutional right—is already discouraging lawful voters from attempting to vote,” said Orion Danjuma, Counsel at Protect Democracy. “We are confident that the court will recognize this conduct as clearly unlawful and put an end to this intimidating behavior immediately so Arizonans can drop off their ballot in peace.”
“Voter intimidation is nothing new in the United States, which has a long history of state-led and state-sanctioned racial violence meant to disenfranchise Black voters and other voters of color. However, in recent years there has been an increase in the use of intimidation tactics and threats of violence to silence and intimidate political adversaries,” a press release said. “Operation Drop Box and false claims of voter fraud are a continuation of the trend of increased political violence which led to the insurrection and violent assault on Congress on January 6, 2021.”
ABC15 also asked Governor Doug Ducey about the complaints of voter intimidation and he said: "First I want to say everybody needs to follow the law. The expectation is that people will continue to follow the law in Arizona. We worked very hard to make it easy to vote and hard, not difficult to cheat."
When asked again about people with guns watching the drop boxes, the governor said, "...I want people to be able to vote and I want people to follow the law. Let's follow the law."
Attorney General Mark Brnovich released the following statement regarding voter intimidation:
Any form of voter intimidation is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Regardless of intent, this type of misguided behavior is contrary to both the laws and values of our state.
