A judge in Arizona gave the go-ahead for an election integrity group to keep an eye on ballot drop-off boxes, a major blow to Democrats who claim that such activity is somehow “suppressing” or “intimidating” voters.
On Friday, District Judge Michael Liburdi ruled that claims from a left-wing group called the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans could not prevent Clean Elections USA from setting up monitors at ballot drop-off boxes in the state, The Associated Press reported.
The judge noted that the case “certainly presents serious questions,” but he insisted that he could not rule in favor of the left-wing group without violating the First Amendment rights of the group monitoring the drop-off boxes.
“An individual’s right to vote is fundamental. But so too is an individual’s right to engage in political speech, assemble peacefully, and associate with others,” Liburdi wrote, according to ABC News.
For their part, the liberals in Arizona claimed that Clean Elections USA — which sometimes sent armed citizens to stand near the drop-off boxes — was scaring voters away from putting their ballots in the boxes.
“Plaintiffs have not provided the Court with any evidence that Defendants’ conduct constitutes a true threat,” Liburdi wrote in his decision. “Defendants have not made any statements threatening to commit acts of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.”
Clean Elections USA and others are motivated by claims that “mules” subverted the 2020 election by stuffing thousands of illegal votes in drop-off boxes.
Indeed, in April, election integrity group True the Vote calculated that approximately 4.8 million votes were cast as part of an alleged illegal ballot harvesting scheme in key swing states in the 2020 general election.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department has posted officers around the county’s two ballot boxes for security. State Attorney General Mark Brnovich has also called on citizens to report any cases of voter intimidation at drop-off boxes.
Should ballot drop boxes be monitored?
Yes: 100% (25 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
So far, only 10 cases have been reported to the federal Justice Department by Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is also the Democratic candidate for governor, according to ABC News.
Liburdi is a Trump appointee, and the case shows how important it was that Donald Trump was in a position — even for just those four short years — to appoint judges who would actually rule on the law and not on ideological grounds.
Liburdi is 100 percent right. The freedom to vote should be sacrosanct in the U.S., and the freedom to make sure elections are not jerry-rigged or otherwise mired in fraud is just as important to ensure trust in the electoral process.
