A federal judge has ordered Donald Trump’s campaign not to engage in any form of “voter intimidation” in Ohio. He sent those specific guidelines to the Republican team, as well as to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
“Obstructing or delaying a voter or prospective voter from reaching or leaving a polling place,” engaging in “unauthorized election observation activities,” including “questioning or interrogating voters or prospective voters about their eligibility to vote or training, organizing, or directing others to do the same,” and “interrogating, admonishing, disrupting, or verbally harassing voters or prospective voters.”
Trump’s campaign reacted with frustration.
On Saturday morning, the Trump campaign appealed the decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Gwin’s decision, the campaign said, “literally imposes a comprehensive election code that the court will apparently continue to make up on the fly.”
In fact, Trump has claimed that voter fraud is being perpetrated to the benefit of Democrats. In Nevada, for example, he said the fact that early voting lines were still open hours after they were supposed to close was evidence of foul play. But other experts have noted that the lines were open to accommodate voters who lined up on time but simply couldn’t make it to the door because of the immense numbers. Elsewhere, in Florida, GOP officials suspect that mail-in ballots are being opened illegally. They planned to sue if the state didn’t respond in a timely manner.
Judges in other states, such as Arizona, have rejected Democrats’ request for an injunction to stop the Trump campaign. Roger Stone praised the decision, writing on Twitter that the judge put “Democratic thugs” in their place.
I doubt this is the last time we will hear about potential voter fraud and voter intimidation in the final 48 hours of the 2016 election campaign.
