An Arizona judge ruled in favor of an election integrity group, allowing them to continue monitoring local ballot drop boxes. Democrats have been outraged over the decision., claiming the security measures are somehow “suppressing” or “intimidating” voters.
District Judge Michael Liburdi’s Friday ruling means that a left-wing organization called the “Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans” can’t prevent “Clean Elections USA” from placing monitors at drop boxes within the state. The judge referenced the First Amendment as the core reason why he ruled against the group.
“An individual’s right to vote is fundamental. But so too is an individual’s right to engage in political speech, assemble peacefully, and associate with others,” Liburdi wrote following his decision.
Liberals in the Grand Canyon State claimed that members of the “Clean Elections USA” security detail, who were sometimes armed, scared voters away from the drop boxes before casting their vote.
Judge Liburdi said the plaintiffs didn’t produce enough evidence to support their allegations.
“Plaintiffs have not provided the Court with any evidence that Defendants’ conduct constitutes a true threat. Defendants have not made any statements threatening to commit acts of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals,” wrote Liburdi.
“Clean Elections USA” and other groups’ motivation to monitor drop boxes stems largely from claims that “mules” aided in stealing the 2020 presidential election by flooding ballot drop boxes with phony votes.
2000 Mules analyzes cellular tracking data and ballot box video to highlight unusual traffic patterns of human “mules” allegedly picking up and dropping off batches of ballots consistent with illegal ballot trafficking claims during the 2020 election #OAN pic.twitter.com/W11C0WwPho
— One America News (@OANN) October 25, 2022
Another election integrity group named “True the Vote” asserted in April that around 4.8 million inauthentic votes were cast as part of an illegal ballot harvesting scheme that took place throughout crucial swing states during the 2020 general election.
“The theme almost always was a set of collectors, a collection point or a stash house for all the ballots, the bundling of those ballots and the casting of those ballots by what we were calling mules in the drop boxes,” said Gregg Phillips of “True the Vote.”
State Attorney General Mark Brnovich has called on citizens to report any instances of voter intimidation at the ballot boxes. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department has also posted officers near the county’s two drop boxes.
Sec. of State Katie Hobbs (D-AZ), who’s also running for governor against Kari Lake (R-AZ), has only reported 10 cases of possible voter intimidation to the federal Justice Department.
Liburdi was appointed by former president Donal Trump, which highlights how vital it was for Donald Trump to instill apolitical, Constitution-abiding judges across the nation.
