Emergency Motion for Injunction Pending Appeal Filed in 9th Circuit in Arizona Drop Box Voter Intimidation Case

You can find the motion here:

For the past two weeks, Defendants have incited and engaged in a campaign of voter intimidation at ballot drop boxes in Arizona, with the express purpose of keeping people from using them to return their ballots. The result has been at least seven voter intimidation complaints filed with Arizona’s Secretary of State and multiple reports by voters describing armed individuals, sometimes masked and in tactical gear, surveilling drop boxes in the dark of night. State officials have sought help from federal law enforcement, ER097, 135, described Defendants’ intimidation teams as “vigilantes,” ER094, and expressed “deep[] concern[] about the safety of individuals who are exercising their constitutional right to vote and who are lawfully taking their early ballots to a drop box,” id….

When voting began in Arizona about two weeks ago, Jennings urged individuals to start monitoring certain drop boxes. ER086, 090. Jennings provided a roadmap of how to organize in large groups with the intent of having the best “deterrent” effect, ER084 (“No less than 8 people”), ER085 (“10 people in groups around every drop box! Not 2 people. That’s not a deterrent”), and proposed mechanisms to be used to scare voters away from using the drop boxes.

She encouraged drop box watchers to collect and send photos back to CEUSA so the information could be passed along to third parties, ER092, and voters could be “geotrack[ed].” ER089 (00:40-1:40). Jennings urged her followers to participate in voter intimidation at specific times and places. ER086, 092-93. Groups monitoring drop boxes, some armed and many openly affiliated with CEUSA, then stationed themselves at Maricopa County’s only outdoor drop box locations and began filming voters they suspected of being “ballot mules.” ER115-116, 120. And Defendants also began publicly exposing the personal information of voters using drop boxes. ER121, 101 (43:25-45:02). On October 21, Jennings bragged in an interview that a voter “was upset his picture went out there.” ER101 (42:25-44:02). On October 22, Jennings posted photos of an elderly voter including a close-up of their license plate. ER121.

The effect of Defendants’ actions was immediate: Across a one-week period, more than half a dozen voters submitted reports to the Secretary of State describing their fears of intimidation due to the presence and conduct of drop box watchers in Maricopa County. ER135, 162. One voter felt intimidated when a group of individuals near a ballot drop box filmed and photographed the voter, took photographs of the voter’s license plates, and followed the voter into the parking lot while continuing to film, accusing the voter of being a mule. ER098. Other voters, who identified themselves as elderly, also reported being intimidated by individuals who were filming and taking photos of cars and license plates. ER111. This conduct quickly drew concern and condemnation from state and local election officials. ER094, 135. Voters across Arizona are now broadly fearful because of Defendants’ conduct. As a voter testified at the hearing, she considered the threats by Defendants when selecting where to drop off her ballot, and became very concerned when she saw someone who appeared to be filming her from a car parked near a drop box, afraid her images would be used to identify and harm her. As Plaintiffs repeatedly testified, these incidents are new, and have directly coincided with Jennings’ mobilization campaign.

Share this: