The Latest: Arizona US judge denies voter harassment order (Democrats)

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Latest on legal arguments over allegations Republican volunteers are engaging in voter intimidation in the guise of preventing voter fraud (all times local):

A federal judge in Phoenix is refusing to issue an injunction sought by Democrats that would have ordered Republicans not to engage in illegal voter intimidation tactics at the polls next week.

U.S. District Judge John Tuchi's Friday evening ruling says the state Democratic Party hadn't shown evidence that the Republicans were conspiring to conduct illegal voter intimidation. He says he's willing to revisit the issue if evidence of voter intimidation appears...

Meanwhile, in Ohio, a Clinton-appointed district judge has issued the following order (I cut and pasted from the .pdf of the order myself, from the copy listed on Huffington Post):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3489238/posts?page=43#43

It is hereby ordered that, effective immediately and extending until 11:59 p.m., November 8, 2016, or until voting in the 2016 Presidential Election is complete, Defendants Trump, Stone, and Stop the Steal—as well as their officers, agents, servants, and employees— and other individuals or groups, including groups associated with the Clinton for Presidency campaign, are restrained and enjoined from engaging in voter intimidation activity, including but not limited to:

a. Hindering or delaying a voter or prospective voter from reaching or leaving the polling place fixed for casting the voter’s ballot;

b. Engaging in any unauthorized “poll watching” activities inside of polling places, within one hundred feet of polling places (“the buffer zone”)¹¹, or within ten feet of a voter standing in a line extending beyond the buffer zone.¹² Unauthorized “poll watching” includes challenging or questioning voters or prospective voters about their eligibility to vote, or training, organizing, or directing others to do the same;

c. Interrogating, admonishing, interfering with, or verbally harassing voters or prospective voters inside polling places, in the buffer zone, or within ten feet of a voter standing in line outside the buffer zone, or training, organizing, or directing others to do the same;

d. Distributing literature and/or stating to individuals at polling places, in the buffer zone, or within ten feet of a voter standing in line outside the buffer zone, that voter fraud is a crime, or describing the penalties under any Ohio or Federal statute for impermissibly casting a ballot, or training, organizing, or directing individuals to do the same;

e. Gathering or loitering, or otherwise being present without the intention to vote, at polling places, in the buffer zone, or within ten feet of a voter standing in line outside the buffer zone;

f. Following, taking photos of, or otherwise recording voters or prospective voters, those assisting voters or prospective voters, or their vehicles at or around a polling place, or training, organizing, or directing others to do the same;

g. Questioning, and training, organizing, or deputizing any persons to question voters at Ohio polling places, in the buffer zone, or within ten feet of a voter standing in line outside the buffer zone, under the guise of the purported “exit polling” or “citizen journalist” operations organized and encouraged by Defendants Stone and Stop the Steal.

This Order does not apply to any activity explicitly authorized by Ohio law with respect to poll observers officially credentialed by a board of elections to be present at the polling place or the right under Ohio law for others to enter a polling place solely for purposes of reviewing the list of voters.¹³

It is further ordered that this Order be publicized to law enforcement and elections officials in advance of Election Day.

The Plaintiff will be required to post a $1,000 bond.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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