{"id":29385,"date":"2023-10-26T13:03:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T20:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=29385"},"modified":"2023-10-26T13:03:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T20:03:48","slug":"true-the-vote-voter-intimidation-case-goes-to-trial-in-georgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/10\/26\/true-the-vote-voter-intimidation-case-goes-to-trial-in-georgia\/","title":{"rendered":"True the Vote Voter Intimidation Case Goes to Trial in Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Madeleine Greenberg<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 25, 2023 (democracydocket.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Manilla<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis\u2019s plea deals<\/a>, John Eastman\u2019s possible disbarment<\/a> and two<\/a> pending election subversion indictments amounting to 17 counts against former President Donald Trump, courts are slowly starting to hold Republican \u201cBig Lie\u201d architects accountable for their dangerous attempts to subvert democracy. But there are others who need to be held accountable as well: those who instilled doubt in our electoral process and those who attempted to interfere with voters\u2019 right to vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow, there will be a trial in a voter intimidation case<\/a> that may not receive the fanfare and media attention of the aforementioned cases, but it will be just as important for holding anti-voting organizations and leaders accountable and protecting voters in future elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

True the Vote launched the largest mass voter challenge in Georgia history. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In November 2020, Georgia handed<\/a> Joe Biden the presidency and paved the way for two Democratic candidates to become the next U.S. senators from the Peach State and give Democrats control of the U.S. Senate. The only thing that stood in the way was a runoff election. With all eyes on Georgia, a right-wing group named True The Vote launched the largest voter challenge effort in Georgia history targeting the eligibility of more than 364,000 Georgians<\/a> \u2014 many of whom were Black, brown or first-time voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, a lawsuit brought by Fair Fight<\/a> and voters, alleging that True the Vote and its associates violated Section 11(b)<\/a> of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and intimidated voters is going to trial. Here is what you need to know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is True the Vote? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

True the Vote (TTV) is a Texas-based right-wing group whose self-described mission is \u201cto train citizens to protect election integrity at the polls.\u201d It was founded by Catherine Engelbrecht<\/a> who is credited<\/a> with \u201cbecoming one of the earliest and most enthusiastic spreaders of ballot conspiracy theories.\u201d TTV\u2019s \u201cresearch\u201d was the basis<\/a> for the disinformation film \u201c2000 Mules\u201d and the group\u2019s claims of voter fraud have been causing harm<\/a> since the early 2010s.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, Englebrecht and her associate Greg Phillips \u2014 who has promulgated disinformation<\/a> about noncitizens voting in the 2016 elections \u2014 were held in contempt<\/a> of court due to their noncompliance in a defamation lawsuit about targeting the founder of an election management software company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TTV\u2019s mass challenge scheme continued amidst the backdrop of threats, high tensions and cries from public officials to stop false claims of fraud.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After the 2020 election, right-wing groups and prominent Republican leaders worked tirelessly to instill doubt in the validity of Georgia\u2019s election results and the security of the state\u2019s elections. As a result, election officials were threatened<\/a> and voters and poll workers were harassed and wrongly accused<\/a> of fraud. Tensions came to an all-time high when it was finally time for Georgia to certify its election results. Trump continuously stoked fears by alleging massive fraud in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2020, one prominent Republican election official made a plea<\/a> to stop Trump and others from continuing to instill doubt in the electoral process and put election officials lives at risk: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Someone\u2019s going to get hurt, someone\u2019s going to get shot, someone\u2019s going to get killed.GABRIEL STERLING (R), CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER IN THE OFFICE OF THE GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, as the plaintiffs put it, TTV continued<\/a> to \u201cfeed this frenzy\u201d and promulgate false accusations of voter fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to court filings<\/a>, the group launched \u201cValidate the Vote\u201d to overturn the results of the 2020 election. When TTV failed to overturn the presidential election results, Validate the Vote morphed into \u201cValidate the Vote Georgia,\u201d an operation that \u201coffered a $1 million \u2018bounty\u2019 for reports of voter fraud\u2026recruited Navy SEALS to confront voters and poll workers\u2026 and, with the help of individual Defendants and state Republican Party officials, launched the largest mass challenge effort in Georgia history, targeting hundreds of thousands of voters just two weeks before the January 2021 runoff election.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To challenge hundreds of thousands of voters\u2019 registrations, TTV assumed that individuals were unlawfully registered if voters had filed a request to forward their mail to a different address in the U.S. Postal Service\u2019s National Change of Address database. TTV used this information \u2014 despite it being unreliable \u2014 to challenge hundreds of thousands of voters\u2019 registrations. As a result, eligible voters discovered that their voter registrations were at risk due to these challenges, which were made possible due to Georgia\u2019s lenient voter challenge law<\/a> and exacerbated by the 2021 omnibus voter suppression law, Senate Bill 202<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many ways, TTV\u2019s blueprint for incentivizing and empowering citizen vigilantes laid the groundwork for the excessive<\/a> vigilantism we see targeting voters today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to TTV\u2019s actions in the lead up to the 2021 Senate runoff, Fair Fight and voters filed a lawsuit alleging that TTV\u2019s mass challenge scheme intimidated voters.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 23, 2020, Fair Fight and voters filed a lawsuit<\/a> against TTV, its founder and other associates alleging that TTV\u2019s mass challenge scheme intimidated voters and therefore violated Section 11(b) of the VRA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enacted in 1965, Section 11(b)<\/a> of the VRA outlaws<\/a> any act that is likely to intimidate voters: \u201cNo person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote.\u201d The provision extends the same protections to anyone \u201curging or aiding\u201d another individual to vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This protection does not require proving intent or racial motivation, making it a useful legal tool in fighting voter intimidation and vigilantism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint<\/a> alleges that TTV\u2019s mass challenge effort that included a $1 million bounty for evidence of illegal voting was objectively likely to intimidate voters, violating Section 11(b) of the VRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TTV\u2019s actions had real impacts on voters. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Voter challenges are harmful: they encourage citizens to question their neighbors, create distrust in our elections and, most of all, unfairly target eligible voters. Throughout the case, voters whose registrations were challenged have shared heartbreaking testimony<\/a>:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I am a Black voter and a veteran, and I grew up in an era of segregation when it was common for public officials and certain members of our communities to make it difficult for us to vote. Having to deal with these kinds of obstacles still today is both discouraging and aggravating, and makes it seem like we should just give up.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Another voter explained how her challenged registration made her feel: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

When I was challenged, I was the only Hispanic there voting. And I noticed that the only other race besides white who I believed was also challenged \u2014 she casted a paper ballot \u2014 was Asian\u2026. I connected the two, and I thought that people of color were being challenged. And that made me feel intimidated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The plaintiffs requested temporary relief, but were denied.<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Jan. 1, 2021 \u2014 just four days before the runoff \u2014 a judge denied the plaintiffs\u2019 request<\/a> to temporarily halt the defendants\u2019 voter challenge, poll watching, election observation and other activities that could intimidate voters. In denying the plaintiffs request, the judge wrote that his order in no way ended the case:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

While this Court denies Plaintiffs\u2019 motion for injunctive relief, this case is not yet over. As this Court has expressed clearly, an eleventh-hour challenge to the franchise of more than 360,000 Georgians is suspect. So too is the manner in which Defendants mounted their challenges. The Court will not abide attempts to sidestep federal law to disenfranchise voters. Nor will it tolerate actors brandishing these voter challenges to intimidate and diminish the franchise, for such acts diminish democracy itself. But the Court must rely on proper evidence and facts to determine whether these acts have in fact run afoul of federal law. The Court looks forward to seeing what evidence the Parties bring to bear.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In response to the lawsuit, TTV not only doubled down and defended its actions, but also countersued<\/a> alleging that Fair Fight, an organization committed to fighting voter suppression and intimidation, was intimidating TTV. Luckily, the court did not buy this bad-faith argument and promptly dismissed<\/a> TTV\u2019s breathtaking counterclaims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TTV is now defending its actions by arguing that Section 11(b) is unconstitutional. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

TTV argues that these voter challenges do not intimidate voters, as their actions are protected by the First Amendment and therefore Section 11(b) of the VRA is unconstitutional. The group also argues that if Section 11(b) is applied to their actions, lawful voters\u2019 votes will be diluted, or worth less. This warped concept of vote dilution is an increasingly<\/a> common<\/a> theme<\/a> in many recent conservative anti-voting lawsuits as a defense against the pro-voting plaintiffs\u2019 cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 2022, TTV submitted what is known as a \u201cnotice of constitutional challenge of statute.\u201d When a party challenges the constitutionality of a federal law \u2014 in this case Section 11(b) of the VRA \u2014 they must submit a notice to the court stating that they are challenging the constitutionality of the law. At that point, the Department of Justice may choose to get<\/a> involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n