Arizona Voter Intimidation Challenge (LWV of Arizona)

Lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Arizona against Lions of Liberty (one of the chief organizers of “Operation: Dropbox”) and several of its members, the Yavapai County Preparedness Team (“an Arizona spinoff of the extremist organization, the Oathkeepers”) and its leader, Clean Elections USA (a right-wing group behind vigilante drop box monitoring in Arizona) and its founder and 10 unnamed defendants for alleged voter intimidation in Arizona. The plaintiff argues that the defendants “have launched two parallel schemes to surveil, harass, and intimidate voters at drop boxes to deter them, and those who are lawfully assisting voters, from exercising the right to vote” based on disinformation. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants’ actions violate the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the Ku Klux Klan Act and argue that Congress passed both laws to “prevent the very kinds of vigilante-led voter intimidation Defendants are now deploying.”  

The plaintiff details instances of alleged voter intimidation in both Maricopa and Yavapai counties, including incidents where voters attempting to deposit their mail-in ballots in drop boxes were allegedly filmed or followed, leading the voters to report “feeling ‘very intimidated and scared.’” The complaint also points to an Oct. 21 instance where “two armed individuals dressed in tactical gear, and who apparently were also carrying magazine clips, were onsite at a ballot box in Mesa.” The plaintiff argues that the defendants are violating Section 11(b) of the VRA, which states that “No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote.” Additionally, the plaintiff asserts that the defendants are violating Section 2 of the Ku Klux Klan Act, which “prohibits conspiracies to intimidate citizens for their support or advocacy for a candidate and provides a remedy for anyone injured on account of their support or advocacy.” The plaintiff requests that the court declare that the defendants have violated the VRA and the Ku Klux Klan Act and temporarily and permanently prevent the defendants and “anyone acting in concert or privity with them, including but not limited to all volunteers, agents, and unnamed co-conspirators” from intimidating Arizona voters.

On Oct. 31, this case was consolidated with Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans v. Clean Elections USA, where all future updates can be found.

Last updated: October 31, 2022 1:05 pm EST