Comment The Justice Department intervened in an ongoing Arizona election lawsuit Monday, upholding a claim by the Arizona League of Women Voters that ballot tracking can amount to illegal voter intimidation. The department said such “vigilant ballot security measures,” including videotaping voters on ballots, likely violate the federal Voting Rights Act. “When private individuals form ‘ballot security forces’ and attempt to assume the State’s legitimate role of overseeing and policing elections, the risk of voter intimidation — and violation of federal law — is significant,” the department said in a “statement of interest.” . filed in the case. The League of Women Voters alleged that several organizations were planning “extensive campaigns to track and intimidate Arizona voters at the polls and falsely accuse them” of voter fraud. Drop boxes, intended to provide a safe, convenient place to submit ballots, have become a symbol of mistrust in elections among Many supporters of former President Donald Trump. Trump and his allies nationally and in Arizona have urged supporters to watch outdoor drop boxes, a stock of the discredited movie “2000 Mules” that claims drop boxes were filled with fake ballots during the 2020 election. News of the Justice Department’s strongly worded voter intimidation testimony was welcomed by voting rights advocates and Arizona officials who are increasingly concerned about outside groups rallying around drop boxes. and video recording of voters and their vehicles. “To have people standing outside dropboxes, armed with tactical gear, with body armor, that’s unprecedented,” said Bill Gates, chairman of the Republican-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. The testimony, Gates said, showed “that there’s a line — there’s a balance between the First Amendment rights that people have and also the right that people have not to feel intimidated when they vote. This point was made very strongly.” Arizona’s lawsuit is one of several claims by battleground states that voters are intimidated when placing ballots at the polls. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) has referred a report of voter harassment at drop boxes to the Department of Justice. Attorney General Merrick Garland last week said the department “will not allow voters to be intimidated” during midterm elections. But Monday’s filing marks the first time this election cycle that the department has entered an ongoing case involving drop boxes in this way. The department specifically referred to the photographing of voters at drop box locations, sometimes by armed vigilantes. “Video recording or photographing voters during voting has long been recognized as raising particularly strong concerns,” the department’s filing said Monday. The filing comes after a federal district judge in Arizona, Michael Liburdi, refused Friday in a related case to bar teams from monitoring drop boxes. He said in a case brought by the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans that there was insufficient evidence to justify a court interfering with an activity protected by the First Amendment. The department in its filing did not offer a specific prescription for the case, but argued that it is possible to create an injunction that prevents threatening activity consistent with First Amendment protections of free speech and assembly. “While the First Amendment protects expressive conduct and peaceful assembly generally, it provides no protection for threats of harm directed at voters,” the division’s lawyers wrote. Voting rights advocates applauded the department’s action. “The filing recognizes the serious threat to our democracy that voter intimidation, like we’re seeing in Arizona,” said Jessica Marsden, counsel for Protecting Democracy, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the League of Women Voters. Danielle Lang, senior director for voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center, said the declaration of interest was a strongly worded, important addition to the case. “It’s remarkable that this compelling petition was filed on such short notice,” after Liburdi’s decision not to intervene, Lang said. The League of Women Voters is seeking a court order to ban armed vigilantes from gathering near the drop boxes, and a hearing on that request is scheduled for Tuesday. The hearing comes as one of the defendants in the league’s lawsuit, the Lions of Liberty, was dismissed from the case after agreeing to stop its drop box tracking program. Luke Cilano, a Lions of Liberty board member in Yavapai County, questioned the department’s decision to get involved. “Why should they make statements about anything that’s a states’ rights issue, unless they’re trying to undermine a state’s right?” he said on Monday. Officials in Maricopa County, home to metro Phoenix and the largest voter population in the swing state, urged voters to contact law enforcement or the secretary of state’s office if they feel uncomfortable pulling the boxes to deposit ballots. The Secretary of State’s office reviews the complaints and determines whether they should be referred to the Department of Justice and the attorney general’s office. State election officials say so have received more than a dozen complaints of intimidation at drop boxes since early voting began on October 12. Through an open records request, The Washington Post obtained copies of complaints referred to law enforcement. “I dropped off my ballot at the Maricopa County Recorders office and there were two men videoing everyone as they walked by,” one voter wrote in a submission about his experience while voting in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon. “While this may not be illegal, it is very uncomfortable and intimidating.” Wingett Sanchez reported from Phoenix.
