Phoenix-area Police Forced to Increase Security Around Ballot Boxes Due to ‘Vigilantes’

Vigilantes subscribing to conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 presidential election have been monitoring ballot boxes around the Phoenix, Arizona area. They are often armed and sometimes masked, and advocacy groups and voters have accused them of voter intimidation.

Law enforcement has had to step up security around ballot boxes in the metropolitan Phoenix area, due to armed vigilante ballot box watchers who have been accused of voter intimidation.

“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,” Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said Monday during a news conference. Penzone also said that two cases of alleged voter intimidation have been referred to the district attorney’s office for potential charges.

Meanwhile, the Arizona secretary of state says it has received six cases of potential voter intimidation and a threatening email was sent to the state elections director.

Arizona had the smallest margin of victory for President Joe Biden during the 2020 elections. Fueled by claims of fraud from former President Donald Trump and a film titled “2,000 Mules,” conspiracies have persisted about the legitimacy of the election. National security and Justice Department officials under Trump have stated that there was no significant fraud in the election, and the dozens of lawsuits that challenged the election have been thrown out, many by judges Trump appointed.

Still, the conspiracies have continued to spread online, leading groups to watch the ballot boxes day and night. Clean Elections USA founder Melody Jennings said during a podcast last month that she wanted 10 volunteers recording drop boxes nationwide, day and night. Two advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against Clean Elections USA, alleging that the group’s activities violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.

A group watching a Maricopa County ballot box last week reportedly said that they were with Clean Elections USA.

One voter claims that another group took pictures of her car and license plate. She says they claimed they were doing it for “election security.” The voter says she took pictures of the group and reported them to the Department of Justice.

Penzone has asked that people respect everyone’s right to vote and to let law enforcement handle suspected criminal violations. He also says that the ballot boxes have been sucking up resources that should be used to investigate crimes.

“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,” Penzone said.