A conservative group has announced plans to deploy trained observers armed with cameras around various ballot drop boxes across Arizona.
This initiative, aimed at catching any potential fraud, has sent shockwaves through the Democrat establishment in the state, who are now scrambling to block it.
Matt Schlapp, the influential chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), outlined the group’s intentions in a letter to Arizona state officials, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
The letter reads:
The purpose of this letter is not to relitigate the 2020 elections. Rather, we hope to work with you to reduce voter concerns regarding election fraud and the fair and transparent administration of elections.
The goal is to establish standards for drop box observation that our organization, as well as any other interested parties on the right or left, can rely upon and reassure the public in Arizona that drop boxes are not being fraudulently used.
Failure to do so risks that the results of the November elections will be questioned by those who did not support the winning candidate.
[…]
To address and help mitigate that skepticism, it is our intention to place monitors near a selection of drop boxes in select counties across Arizona. The purpose of doing so is to encourage—not discourage-voting. We are also considering using open-source information to identify those who are not eligible to vote.
We believe casting a legal ballot should be easy, and together we can begin to re-instill public confidence in our elections. To that end, we would like to work with your respective offices to establish appropriate standards for drop box monitoring that groups across the political spectrum can rely. Examples might include the following:
- Drop box observers must be situated on public property.
- Drop box observers must come no closer to the drop box than 75 feet, what is permitted for canvassers outside of polling locations. ARIz. REv. STAT. § 16-1018(1) (2022)
- Drop box observers must not communicate in any way with voters.
- Drop box observers must not be armed, carry any defensive gear, or wear any clothing that could be confused as representing law enforcement, military personnel, a candidate, or political party.
- Drop box observers may have photographic or video equipment to document any activity that could be viewed as legally questionable.
- Dropbox observers shall be trained on all laws and regulations governing activity that constitutes election observation and will follow those laws and regulations.
Kris Mayes, who “won” the 2022 election by 280 votes from Trump-endorsed Abe Hamadeh, wasted no time in condemning the plan, labeling it as voter intimidation.
“I want to be extremely clear that I will not stand for any voter intimidation, and that includes using ‘open-source’ information to identify individuals using a drop box to vote,” Mayes said per AZ Central.
Via Behizy:
BREAKING: A conservative group is planning to place trained observers with cameras around various ballot drop boxes in Arizona for the 2024 election to catch any fraud that occurs
Democrat state officials are currently PANICKING about the plan’s implementation
In a letter to… pic.twitter.com/C8ldeTMgt7
— George (@BehizyTweets) August 31, 2024
