Arizona Right-Wing Groups Abandon Drop Box Surveillance Plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, Oct. 27, two right-wing groups named in a lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters of Arizona announced they would abandon “sponsorship” of an operation to monitor drop boxes. In an email they refer to as an “Official Stand Down order,” the Lions of Liberty and Yavapai County Preparedness Team — a group with links to the Oath Keepers — stated that “Operation Drop Box is officially Closed.” The organizations pointed to the lawsuit “and a possible restraining order” as the reason for their decision to “step[] down” from their “sponsorship of Operation Drop Box.”

In recent days, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) has forwarded six complaints of possible voter intimidation to the Arizona attorney general and U.S. Department of Justice. Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona announced there were criminal charges pending in several election-threat cases. Additionally, the League’s lawsuit is one of two against coordinated voter intimidation by right wing-vigilantes in the state, with the other filed on behalf of Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans. There was a hearing for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in the Alliance’s lawsuit yesterday — you can find a courtroom summary here.