{"id":2335995,"date":"2024-09-03T08:10:58","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T12:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-group-to-monitor-swing-states-ballot-drop-boxes-democrats-doubtful-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-03T08:13:45","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T12:13:45","slug":"conservative-group-to-monitor-swing-states-ballot-drop-boxes-democrats-doubtful-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-group-to-monitor-swing-states-ballot-drop-boxes-democrats-doubtful-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservative group to monitor swing-state\u2019s ballot drop boxes, Democrats doubtful &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fconservative-group-to-monitor-swing-states-ballot-drop-boxes-democrats-doubtful-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2335995&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-heritage-foundation-chuck-schumer-using-january-6-to-seize-permanent-power-by-breaking-filibuster\/\" title=\"Exclusive \u2014 Heritage Foundation: Chuck Schumer Using January 6 to Seize \u2018Permanent Power\u2019 by Breaking Filibuster\">conservative grassroots organization<\/a> has reached out to election officials in Arizona&#8217;s major jurisdictions to\u2062 inquire about the\u2062 security measures in place for ballot drop boxes and has expressed a desire to\u200d monitor these boxes during the upcoming presidential election. This initiative\u200c follows a court ruling that found\u2064 Arizona Secretary of State Adrian \u2064Fontes \u200bhad overstepped his authority in creating an \u200bElections Procedure Manual, particularly regarding restrictions on behavior at polling places. Supporters of the manual saw it as a means to ensure election safety, while critics,\u2064 including the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, argued it\u2064 violated First Amendment\u200b rights.\u2064 The ruling allows conservative monitors to \u2062oversee ballot \u2062drop boxes, which they claim will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dr-birx-on-cdc-reform-the-way-you-rebuild-public-trust-is-to-be-transparent\/\" title=\"Dr. Birx On CDC Reform: \u2018The Way You Rebuild Public Trust Is To Be Transparent\u2019\">rebuild public trust<\/a> in the electoral process. However, Democratic lawmakers \u2064have raised concerns that this monitoring could lead\u2063 to harassment and intimidation of voters, accusing Republicans of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-targets-two-russian-spies-it-says-tried-to-influence-local-us-election\/\" title=\"US targets 2 Russian spies for meddling in local US election.\">undermining democratic processes<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Conservative group to monitor swing-state&rsquo;s ballot drop boxes, Democrats doubtful<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1744347\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; A conservative grassroots organization has sent letters to election officials in every &ldquo;major jurisdiction&rdquo; asking what measures are being taken to ensure the security of Arizona&rsquo;s ballot boxes and calling for the right to monitor those boxes during the general presidential election.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>According to reporting by the Arizona Republic, one of these letters was received by Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on Aug. 15, just days after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that Fontes had overstepped when crafting the Elections Procedure Manual.<\/p>\n<p>All eyes are on Arizona as it will be a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-falsely-blamed-trump-in-2020-campaign-for-whitmer-kidnapping-plot-jury-aquits-2-hung-on-2\/\" title=\"Biden Falsely Blamed Trump in 2020 Campaign for Whitmer Kidnapping &#039;Plot&#039;; Jury Aquits 2, Hung on 2\">crucial swing state<\/a> in the presidential election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p>The court case,&nbsp;<em>Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Adrian Fontes<\/em>, was brought to court by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Yuma resident Philip Townsend and the America First Policy Institute, where they jointly claimed that Fontes violated First Amendment rights when setting limitations on what actions and behavior are allowed outside and in a polling place.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Court is troubled by section III, &lsquo;preserving order and security at the voting location,&rsquo;&rdquo; reads the court order. &ldquo;From pages 180 to 183, the EPM contains what this Court finds to be speech restrictions in violation of our Arizona Constitution, misstates or modifies our statutes, and fails to identify any distinction between guidance and legal mandates.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While supporters said the EPM provisions ensured the safety and security of Arizona elections, the court has ruled it unlawful and no prosecution can befall anyone who violates this portion of the EPM.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What, for example, constitutes a person communicating about voter fraud in a harassing manner? Or, for that matter, &lsquo;posting&rsquo; a sign in an intimidating manner? How does a person either do this behavior &ndash; whatever it means &ndash; or avoid it? And what content printed on a t-shirt might be offensive or harassing to one and not another? What if the t-shirt says, &lsquo;I have a bomb and I intend to vote!&rsquo;? Where does the Secretary draw the line?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The repeal of this part of the EPM would make it illegal to prosecute CPAC individuals from monitoring ballot boxes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is our intention to place monitors near a selection of drop boxes in select counties across Arizona,&rdquo; reads the letter from CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp. &ldquo;We also are considering using open-source information to identify those who are not eligible to vote.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In an opinion written by Schlapp on Aug. 30, he said this choice was made to &ldquo;ensure that drop box observation activities are performed in such a way as to renew public confidence in fair, free and transparent elections.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have identified unmonitored boxes as one area that undermined people&rsquo;s faith in fair elections,&rdquo; reads an Aug. 22 statement from Schlapp on X. &ldquo;Hence, we have been planning on a program like this for an extended period of time for states that have failed to establish robust protocols for monitoring drop boxes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Priya Sundareshan and Sen. Anna Hernandez said in a joint statement on Aug. 29 that they are concerned that CPAC and other GOP allies will use this ability to harass and intimidate those using ballot drop boxes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Once again, Republicans are brazen enough to write down their radical plans to attack our democracy,&rdquo; reads the statement. &ldquo;First, the Republican National Committee (RNC) announces its plan to recruit 100,000 people to &lsquo;monitor&rsquo; early and election day voting. Then, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) emailed Arizona elections officials their plan to watch and film voters as they lawfully drop off their early ballot.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, they note the time that a judge ordered a group in 2022 from taking photos and filming voters within 75 feet of a ballot box and posting them online.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Now, CPAC, by their own admission, is promising cameras and video equipment to film voters in &lsquo;a selection of drop boxes in select counties&rsquo; based on repeatedly debunked claims of voter fraud,&rdquo; reads the statement. &ldquo;These groups&rsquo; coordinated plans will subject voters to intimidation based entirely off of what &lsquo;observers&rsquo; think looks &lsquo;suspicious.&rsquo; Since 2020, we&rsquo;ve seen more debunked claims of voter fraud and illegal ballot collection than we count, and yet no evidence was ever provided.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The statement also says that although the court ruled that the EPM rules prohibiting voter intimidation are void, voter intimidation is still a crime and wants to remind voters ahead of the presidential election that they have a fundamental right to vote without being intimidated or harassed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1744347\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1744347\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A conservative grassroots organization has reached out to election officials in all significant jurisdictions in Arizona, inquiring about the security measures for ballot drop boxes and requesting permission to monitor these boxes during the upcoming presidential election. The Arizona Republic reported that one such letter was sent to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on August 15, shortly after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge determined that Fontes had exceeded his authority while creating the Elections Procedure Manual. As a key swing state, Arizona is under scrutiny ahead of the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The case, Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Adrian Fontes, was initiated by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club along with Yuma resident Philip Townsend and the America First Policy Institute, who argued that Fontes infringed upon First Amendment rights by imposing restrictions on behavior outside polling places. The court expressed concern over certain sections of the manual that it deemed as unconstitutional speech restrictions and stated that no legal action could be taken against individuals violating those provisions.<\/p>\n<p>The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) intends to place monitors near selected drop boxes across various counties in Arizona and may utilize open-source information to identify potentially ineligible voters. CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp emphasized this initiative aims to restore public trust in fair elections by addressing unmonitored ballot boxes which he believes undermine confidence.<\/p>\n<p>However, Democratic Senators Priya Sundareshan and Anna Hernandez have voiced concerns regarding potential harassment or intimidation of voters by CPAC members as they monitor drop box activity. They criticized Republicans for openly outlining their plans which they believe threaten democratic processes\u2014citing previous instances where groups were prohibited from photographing or filming voters near ballot boxes due to intimidation concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a court ruling nullifying certain EPM rules against voter intimidation, both senators reminded voters of their right to cast ballots free from harassment or intimidation ahead of the presidential election<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2335996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/maricopa-county-election.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[39966,33572,32644,32115,32076],"class_list":["post-2335995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ballot-monitoring","tag-conservative-group","tag-election-integrity","tag-swing-states","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/maricopa-county-election.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2335995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2335996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2335995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2335995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2335995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}