Maricopa County officials expressed that they are concerned over increased reports of voter intimidation at ballot boxes after two armed “vigilantes” were found outside a ballot box on Friday.
Photos and videos from Friday, obtained by ABC News, showed two men dressed in tactical gear and armed with magazines stationed outside a ballot box. The pair left before authorities arrived.
BREAKING: @mcsoaz tells @abc15 they are looking into several individuals watching a voter drop box in Mesa, AZ.
I’m told they have magazine clips, dressed in tactical gear, fully disguised. @Garrett_Archer
Video: pic.twitter.com/NEfYdweNlY
— Nicole Grigg (@NicoleSGrigg) October 22, 2022
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Police began to measure the distance between where the men were standing and the ballot box to make sure they weren’t too close. Arizona law prohibits people from entering the 75-foot limit of a voting location with a weapon, which is considered to be an unlawful act of voter intimidation.
My colleague @JBontkeABC15 says deputies are measuring the distance to make sure ballot watchers weren’t too close. https://t.co/uJw3UnnuqY
— Nicole Grigg (@NicoleSGrigg) October 22, 2022
Early voting began in Arizona on Oct. 12. Since then, there have been at least two filed complaints of voter intimidation. On Oct. 20, a voter filed a complaint with the Arizona secretary of state’s office, stating that a group of people was harassing and taking photographs of a voter and his wife as they went to place their ballots. He said the group called them “mules.”
“We are deeply concerned about the safety of individuals who are exercising their constitutional right to vote and who are lawfully taking their early ballot to a drop box,” Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates and Recorder Stephen Richer said in a joint statement, per the Hill. “Uninformed vigilantes outside Maricopa County’s drop boxes are not increasing election integrity. Instead, they are leading to voter intimidation complaints.”
The officials emphasized that while transparency and monitoring in elections are important, voter intimidation is unlawful.
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“For those who want to be involved in election integrity, become a poll worker or an official observer with your political party,” the statement said. “Don’t dress in body armor to intimidate voters as they are legally returning their ballots.”
Maricopa County has been under severe scrutiny since the 2020 election as the center of former President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud. The state Senate spent months auditing the 2020 election in Maricopa County despite the county emphasizing there was no evidence of vote tampering.
