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President Donald J. Trump and administration officials are being sued by a voting rights group and others who claim the president’s statements and actions amount to voter intimidation.
Plaintiffs include the national nonprofit Latino voter advocacy organization Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, along with registered voters Sara Schwartz of Philadelphia and Marla Lopez of Houston. Trump, U.S. Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf are named as defendants.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges Trump and his appointees are “trying to prevent a free and fair” election by “intimidating and threatening eligible voters who want to vote, support, and advocate on behalf of certain political candidates, and express their political beliefs.”
The 53-page complaint details a series of official actions, directives and public statements made by the defendants during the last few months that allegedly demonstrate a pattern of voter intimidation and suppression of peaceful protests in the lead-up to the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The actions in question include threatening to send law enforcement to polling places; encouraging Trump supporters “and white supremacist groups with a history of violence” to act as “poll watchers”; proposing to delay the 2020 general election; “sabotaging” mail delivery; and threatening to ban voting by mail or preventing mailed-in votes from being counted.
As states have seen a rise in early and mail-in voting due to concerns that in-person voting will put people at risk of contracting coronavirus, Trump has repeatedly claimed with little evidence that mail-in voting opens the election to voter fraud, according to The Hill.
The complaint also cites Trump’s lack of commitment to a peaceful transfer of power if he should lose the election. When pressed by journalists and others on whether he will agree to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses, Trump often responds by saying he will if he believes the election results are legitimate, Forbes reported.
The actions of Trump, Barr and Wolf over the last five months “make these threats terrifyingly credible,” plaintiffs argue, noting that defendants have “displayed a willingness to use the full force of the federal government to suppress constitutionally protected activity and incite private actors to do the same.”
One example of the officials’ alleged willingness to suppress constitutionally protected activity, according to the complaint, happened June 1, when Trump and Barr ordered armed federal agents to clear Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square of individuals who were peacefully demonstrating for racial justice.
The agents used tear gas and other chemical irritants and flash-bang explosives to disperse the crowd “so that Trump could pose for pictures in front of a church,” the lawsuit states.
Another instance was in July, when Wolf directed Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to send armed federal agents to Portland, Oregon, ostensibly to protect the federal courthouse from protesters, according to the complaint.
The federal agents, often appearing without any identifying insignia, seized people who were engaged in voter registration activities and detained them in unmarked vans, according to the complaint.
At least 23 individuals were allegedly detained in Portland by DHS agents but never charged with a crime; in several of those cases, federal agents confiscated individuals’ cellphones and did not return them after they were released from custody, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit specifically alleges that the actions of the president and officials amount to intimidating or attempting to intimidate voters and those aiding them in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; conspiring to intimidate or threaten voters and those aiding them in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871; unconstitutional suppression of speech and votes for political purposes in violation of the First, Fifth and 14th amendments.
Plaintiffs are asking the court to prohibit defendants from taking actions to intimidate voters or otherwise “interfere” with voting and ballot counting, including encouraging Trump supporters to bring weapons to the polls or block access to polls.
They’re also asking the court to prohibit the defendants from deploying federal law enforcement agents at or within 300 feet of polls while voting is underway.
Do you think Trump administration officials actions constitute voter intimidation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Michael D. Lieder and Cyrus Mehri of Mehri & Skallet PLLC; Matthew D. Brinckerhoff, Jonathan S. Abady, Samuel Shapiro and Marissa R. Benavides of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP; and Ronald Fein, Gillian Cassell-Stiga, John Bonifaz and Ben Clements of Free Speech for People.
The Donald Trump Voter Intimidation Lawsuit is Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-03030, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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4 thoughts onAdvocacy Group Sues Trump Over Alleged Voter Intimidation
I’m at the point that I don’t even want to vote. I feel like he’s going to do whatever it takes to make it appear as if he’s the winner again even if he isn’t. His words and actions make me feel very uncomfortable and afraid to even go to vote in my otherwise friendly neighborhood.
I don’t want to be subject to violence like what happened over summer with all the broken glass, stolen stuff, and violent street thugs. I’m scared that if I don’t agree with the free-loaders they will hurt me, or worse, burn more people alive. It is not safe to be outside because angry gangs of urban-dwellers have taken over and are targeting other folks. I just wish someone would protect me and my family.
I agree w you
Yes, definitely !