Trump Judge Allows Menacing Of Arizona Drop Boxes

Courthouse News reports:

A federal judge on Friday preliminarily declined to block members of the group Clean Elections USA from gathering within sight of ballot drop boxes following complaints that armed and masked members intimidated potential voters during the 2022 election. The Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino filed a joint lawsuit against Clean Elections USA in October.

Amid largely unfounded claims of widespread election fraud, Clean Elections founder Melody Jennings encouraged members to patrol drop boxes across Arizona to deter what she called “ballot mules” — people turning in more than one ballot at a time. The lawsuit came after Arizonans in multiple cities complained of masked, sometimes armed men in tactical gear and bulletproof vests intimidating voters.

Read the full article.

As the piece notes, it has always been legal in Arizona for people to turn in ballots for family and household members.

The judge in the case, Michael Liburdi was nominated to the federal bench by Trump in 2019. Weeks later he was narrowly advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 12-10 vote before being approved by the then-Republican controlled full Senate.

A judge on Friday preliminarily declined to block members of the group Clean Elections USA from gathering near ballot drop boxes following complaints that armed and masked members intimidated potential voters during the 2022 election. @JosephDuhownik https://t.co/viEZzQo5aT

— Courthouse News (@CourthouseNews) January 27, 2023