Indianz.Com > News > Cronkite News: Judge address harassment of voters at ballot boxes
Judge sets limits on drop-box watchers, banning weapons, confrontation
Thursday, November 3, 2022
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge set new limits on groups watching ballot drop boxes, ordering them to stop confronting and filming voters, to stop carrying weapons near the boxes and to correct voting misinformation on their social media.
The temporary restraining order late Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi came just days after he rejected a request from voters’ groups to ban the monitors entirely, saying they had a First Amendment right to watch the drop boxes.
It also comes as the Justice Department this week joined a separate lawsuit charging the monitors in Arizona with voter intimidation. The Arizona secretary of state’s office said that since the start of early voting, it has received at least 10 reports of voter intimidation by groups of people – some armed – sitting outside voting locations with cameras aimed at the drop boxes.
Liburdi’s order, in effect until a week after Election Day, says those groups can still film and photograph the boxes, but must be at least 75 feet away when they do so. It prohibits them from posting images or personal information of voters online, “including, but not limited to, the individuals’ identity, their distinguishing features, their license plate number, model and make of car.”
Box monitors are prohibited from speaking with or yelling at voters – unless the voter yells at them first – and it says that the groups may not openly carry weapons or wear body armor within 250 feet of a box.
Finally, it orders Clean Elections USA and its founder, Melody Jennings, to post specific language on their websites and social media sites spelling out that voters can drop off more than one ballot at a time, for a family member, housemate or someone they care for. He also ordered them to post a note correcting past misstatements about Arizona law.
Jennings had complied by Wednesday, posting Liburdi’s language to her Truth Social account and a screenshot of the Arizona statutes on election fraud. Along with noting who can deposit another person’s ballot, Jennings added a note that she had “never stated otherwise.”
The Clean Elections USA website now features a link on its homepage to the “Arizona Statement,” which includes Liburdi’s language, the Arizona law and a link to the temporary restraining order.
Jennnings did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. But the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, which filed the suit against Clean Elections USA, said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the restraining order is “a win for all Arizonans, especially seniors who are the most likely to vote by early ballot.”
The alliance and Voto Latino claimed in their suit that their members’ right to vote were threatened by intimidation from the drop box watchers.

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
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