A sign points the way to a ballot drop box inside a secure perimeter of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in downtown Phoenix on Oct. 25, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)
A federal judge in Arizona on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order against Clean Elections USA, a grassroots organization aimed at maintaining election integrity.
The temporary restraining order (pdf) issued by Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi limits Clean Elections USA—which has been observing drop boxes in Arizona—from carrying out certain actions at the ballot boxes.
Specifically, members of Clean Elections USA and its associates are barred from coming within 75 feet of a ballot drop box or a building housing a drop box; speaking or yelling at people within 75 feet of the drop box, unless they are yelled at first; or openly carrying firearms or wearing body armor within 250 feet of ballot drop boxes.
Members of the organization will not be in breach of the latter ruling if they “accidentally or unknowingly reveal a concealed firearm or concealed body armor,” the ruling states.
Arizona law prohibits being armed or trying to influence voters within 75 feet of a voting location.
Additionally, the judge ordered that defendants in the restraining order, which include Clean Elections USA founder Melody Jennings, must clearly post the following on the Clean Elections USA website and on its Truth Social page: “It is not always illegal to deposit multiple ballots in a ballot drop box. It is legal to deposit the ballot of a family member, household member, or person for whom you are the caregiver.”
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Truth Social is former President Donald Trump’s social media platform. The statement must be posted within 24 hours of the restraining order being issued, the judge said.
Liburdi also banned any associates of the group from posting images, video recordings, or personal information online about individuals who return ballots to drop boxes, and prohibited the group from taking photos or recordings of voters while they are within 75 feet of a ballot box.
The group must also “cease and desist making false statements” about Arizona election law from now until the end of the voting period, Liburdi said.
The order will be in effect for 14 days, effective immediately, Liburdi said.
Tuesday’s temporary restraining order came after the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans sued Clean Elections USA on Oct. 24 for allegedly intimidating voters and violating federal law, including the Voting Rights Act.
However, Liburdi on Friday refused an emergency injunction request by the Alliance to outright block Clean Elections USA from monitoring voters dropping off their ballots, stating in an opinion (pdf) that the Alliance had failed to provide the court with “any evidence that Defendants’ conduct constitutes a true threat.”
“On this record, Defendants have not made any statements threatening to commit acts of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals,” Liburdi wrote. “There is no evidence that Defendants have publicly posted any voter’s names, home addresses, occupations, or other personal information.”
“In fact, Jennings continuously states that her volunteers are to ‘follow laws’ and that ’[t]hose who choose to break the law will be seen as an infiltrator intent on causing [CEUSA] harm,” he added.
Lynnette (L), 50, and Nicole, 52, watch a ballot drop box while sitting in a parking lot in Mesa, Ariz., on Oct. 24, 2022. (Bastien Inzaurralde/AFP via Getty Images)
Striking a Balance
In issuing his restraining order on Tuesday, the judge said he believes it strikes the right balance in maintaining voter privacy.
“The balance is [the drop box watchers] can get their information as long as the vehicle, the individual, is outside of that 75-foot limit, but when that person is actually reaching into the car to grab a ballot or ballots or putting the ballot or ballots into the drop box, they are entitled to some greater degree of privacy from being surveilled and video recorded and photographed, somewhat similar to what they would receive in the voting location,” Liburdi said, according to The Los Angeles Times.
In a statement posted to Facebook on Friday, the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans called the decision “truly disappointing,” adding that “American citizens should be able to cast a ballot without fear of personal injury or other harm to their safety and security.”
