PHOENIX — A federal judge on Tuesday responded to complaints against armed members of a group monitoring ballot boxes in Arizona that people wearing masks and carrying guns were threatening voters. and ordered them to stay at least 250 feet from their polling place.

U.S. District Judge Michael Libbledi has ruled that Clean Elections USA members, their leaders, and anyone working with them should not film or follow anyone within 75 feet of the ballot box or the entrance to the building where the ballot box is located. Also, you may not speak to or yell at an individual within its boundaries unless you are spoken to first.

The Arizona League of Women Voters requested a temporary restraining order after calling on people to watch the 24-hour ballot box in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county.

“It is paramount to balance defendants’ constitutionally protected rights to engage in First Amendment activities with plaintiffs’ and voters’ interest in voting free from harassment and intimidation,” Liburdi said. said.

A second defendant in rural Yavapai County — a group known as the Freedom Lions and the Yavapai County Preparedness Team and associated with the far-right rebel group Orth Keepers — suspended their activities on Monday. To do.

Local and federal law enforcement agencies are alarmed by reports of armed individuals monitoring ballot boxes in two counties around the clock as the midterm elections approach. Some voters have complained that people watching the box took pictures and videos, followed voters, and then threatened voters.

Sheriff’s deputies were patrolling around two outdoor dropboxes in Maricopa County when two individuals with guns and bulletproof vests showed up at a dropbox on Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix. Another of his 24-hour outdoor drop-boxes in the county is located at the Maricopa County Counting and Election Center in downtown Phoenix, now surrounded by a chain link fence.

Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brunovich called on voters to immediately report any threats to the police and file a complaint with his office. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said last week that her six cases of possible voter intimidation against the state attorney general and the U.S. Department of Justice, and threatening emails were sent to state election officials.

Arizona’s federal attorney’s office promised to prosecute violations of federal law, but local police said they would “allow all eligible voters to exercise their right to vote without intimidation or other electoral fraud.” We are at the forefront of efforts to do so,” he said.

A temporary order issued by Liburdi on Tuesday is valid for two weeks, and cooperation from oversight groups “should not be construed as an admission that they were involved in any of these activities,” the court said. added the official.

The 250 feet (76 meters) perimeter of the drop box also applies to group members wearing body armor.

Other provisions include statements posted by the group on its website and social media that it is not true that dropping multiple ballots is illegal in all cases. Exceptions are made for family members, members of the same household, and caregivers.

The defendant’s lead attorney, Alexander Corrodin, said the League of Women Voters in Arizona ultimately failed to stop the monitor’s duties altogether.

“They worry that they can’t record what happens within 75 feet. They may have missed an opportunity to deter illegal activity,” Corodin said. “Today’s order may make dropbox voting a little less secure.”

An AP review this summer found no major fraud from the widespread use of ballot drop boxes in the 2020 election.

The Arizona League of Women Voters encouraged voters to keep using their drop-boxes.

“Today’s U.S. District Court ruling is a victory for Arizona voters who have the right to vote free from intimidation, intimidation or coercion,” Pinney Sheoran, president of the group, said in a statement.

This case was merged into a separate lawsuit before Liburdi.

On Friday, a judge said the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans failed to make its case against Clean Elections USA. excluded from.

“Defendants have not made statements threatening to commit unlawful acts of violence against any individual or group of individuals,” the judge wrote.

Liburdi concluded, “While this case certainly presents serious problems, the court cannot issue an injunction without violating the First Amendment.” The judge is Trump’s appointee and a member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization.

On Monday, the Justice Department said its actions raised serious concerns about voter intimidation and said it would join the lawsuit.

Lions of Liberty board member Luke Cyrano said the organization canceled its “Operation Drop Box” initiative last Wednesday.

He said the Liberty Lions are not affiliated with Clean Elections USA. They are connected with the Yavapai County Preparedness Team. But he says the team wasn’t involved in monitoring ballot boxes.

Similar groups across the United States have embraced a discredited film called “2000 Mules.” The film alleges that people were paid to move between drop-boxes and stuff fraudulent ballots in the 2020 presidential election.

There is no evidence to support the idea that a network of Democratic-affiliated voting “mules” conspired to collect and deliver ballots to drop-boxes in either the 2020 presidential election or the upcoming midterm elections.

Terry Tan of The Associated Press reports.