Court weighs blocking group from surveilling Arizona ballot drop boxes amid intimidation complaints

A federal judge in Arizona said Wednesday he hopes to decide by Friday whether to block members of a group called Clean Elections USA from keeping watch outside outdoor ballot drop boxes, sometimes armed and masked, filming people dropping off their ballots. Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said Monday that he's stepping up security around the drop boxes after a series of incidents over the weekend, including complaints about two armed, masked men in tactical gear hanging around a drop box in Mesa.
Some of the drop box watchers film people dropping off their ballots and photograph their license plates, and some lurkers have covered up their own license plates.
"Every day I'm dedicating a considerable amount of resources just to give people confidence that they can cast a vote safely, and that is absurd," Penzone said at a news conference, adding that he's referred two potentially criminal incidents to prosecutors. The conspiracy-fueled effort to monitor drop boxes is pulling resources from his department's criminal investigations, Penzone added. "But we'll come and we'll babysit polling sites because people have to misbehave if that's what we have to do to protect democracy."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi is weighing a lawsuit against Clean Elections USA from the advocacy groups Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino. The League of Women Voters filed a similar voter intimidation suit Tuesday against Clean Elections and two groups, Lions of Liberty and the Yavapai County Preparedness Team, that are associated with the far-right anti-government Oath Keepers organization.
The drop box watching is apparently being fueled by right-wing election denial conspiracy theories laid out in the discredited film and book 2000 Mules. Officials in both parties have asked the groups monitoring the drop boxes to refrain from intimidating voters.
"Uninformed vigilantes outside Maricopa County's drop boxes are not increasing election integrity," Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer and Bill Gates, chairman of the county board of supervisors — both Republicans — said in a joint statement. "Instead they are leading to voter intimidation complaints." Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who is running for governor and whose Phoenix campaign offices was burgled this week, said she is looking in to six cases of potential voter intimidation.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Tips for seizing control of your digital well-being
The Week Recommends A handy mix of technology and self-motivation
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from Louvre
Speed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Bolivia elects centrist over far-right presidential rival
Speed Read Relative political unknown Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, was elected president
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ rallies
Speed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified files
Speed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DC
Speed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operations
Speed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rules
Speed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Act
speed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
‘An exercise of the Republicans justifying their racist positions’
instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in Venezuela
Speed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country