Donald Trump in Geneva, Ohio, last month.
Jeff Swensen / Getty Images
WASHINGTON — There will be no new anti-voter intimidation rules in place for elections in Ohio this week beyond those already existing under state and federal laws, a federal appeals court ruled on Sunday.
The decision reversed a lower court judge who had granted Democrats' request to issue an order barring the Donald Trump campaign, Roger Stone Jr., and his group Stop the Steal "from conspiring to intimidate, threaten, harass, or coerce voters on Election Day."
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday morning halted enforcement of US District Court Judge James Gwin's order that would have prevented a wide group of people associated with both presidential campaigns in Ohio — and potentially all people in Ohio — from engaging in a variety of actions that Gwin had determined were impermissible voter intimidation-related actions.
Those actions included "[h]indering or delaying a voter or prospective voter from reaching or leaving the polling place" or "[i]nterrogating, admonishing, interfering with, or verbally harassing voters or prospective voters inside polling places."
Gwin's order also, however, included more broad prohibitions, including "[g]athering or loitering, or otherwise being present without the intention to vote, at polling places" and "[f]ollowing, 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."
The Trump campaign appealed the order, arguing that the order by Gwin — a Democratic appointee — wasn't justified and that it risked violating people's First Amendment rights.
Reviewing the district court's order, the appeals court sided with the Trump campaign — and issued a stay, effectively nullifying Gwin's order for Tuesday's election.
"[W]e conclude that the Plaintiff did not demonstrate before the district court a likelihood of success on the merits, and that all of the requisite factors weigh in favor of granting the stay," the court concluded in the two-page decision.
Judges Alice Batchelder, John Rogers, and Richard Allen Griffin — all Republican appointees — participated in Sunday's decision.
Source BuzzFeed - Politics http://ift.tt/2f7cWDr
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