A group out there have been carrying guns and wearing body armour to try to intimidate voters….
Another group went to court to get the judge to rule against the suppression efforts….
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order to restrict certain activities of a group that is monitoring ballot drop boxes in Arizona.
U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi ruled on Tuesday that the organization, Clean Elections USA, cannot openly carry firearms or visibly wear body armor within 250 feet of a ballot drop box, intentionally enter within 75 feet of a drop box or the entrance to where a drop box is located or take photos or record people within 75 feet of a drop box…
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Liburdi had declined to block the group from monitoring the drop boxes Friday, ruling that doing so would infringe on their “core constitutional rights.” The Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, an organization that works to educate and mobilize senior citizens to be politically active, argued that allowing Clean Elections USA to monitor the boxes would intimidate voters.
Liburdi denied the alliance’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the monitoring, but he issued a series of restrictions on Clean Elections’ activities in his order Tuesday.
Members of Clean Elections will also not be allowed to speak to or yell at anyone who they know is returning ballots to a drop box and within 75 feet of the drop box, unless the members are spoken to or yelled at first.
The two organizations had agreed to certain restrictions, like those concerning firearms and intentionally coming within 75 feet of the entrance to a building where a drop box is located, but Liburdi’s order went further….
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The New York Times reported that a lawyer for Clean Elections said in court that he would likely appeal the ruling, arguing certain restrictions like those on taking photos violate free speech….
Note…
One would hope ‘Free Speech’ isn’t about ‘mencing’ people by showing weapons and staring then down….