Stay updated with breaking news from Michael Liburdi. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Reports of people watching ballot boxes in Arizona, sometimes armed or wearing ballistic vests, raise serious concerns about voter intimidation, the Justice Department said Monday as it stepped into a lawsuit over the monitoring.
A federal judge denied a request for an injunction against fascists who are intimidating voters at Arizona ballot drop boxes, ruling that the First Amendment protects their threatening conduct.
Federal Judge Michael Liburdi will not approve an emergency order to stop monitors from Clean Elections USA from gathering near Arizona voter locations.
“While the First Amendment protects expressive conduct and peaceable assembly generally, it affords no protection for threats of harm directed at voters,” U.S. government attorneys wrote.
With Election Day less than two weeks away, a federal judge has issued a ruling amid alleged acts of voter intimidation that have been reported to authorities in Arizona.