Trump Campaign Urges US Appeals Court To Reject Order In Swing State
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CINCINNATI (AP) — Donald Trump's presidential campaign has asked the federal appeals court in Cincinnati to throw out a Cleveland federal judge's restraining order aimed at preventing voter intimidation in the swing state of Ohio.
The Republican campaign wants the full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear its request. Its filing Saturday stated that the order "tramples" First Amendment freedoms and was issued without evidence of voter intimidation even though Ohio has had early voting going on for weeks.
The Ohio Democratic Party urges that the order be left in place, saying it's needed to protect Ohioans' rights to vote free from harassment, coercion and intimidation. The Democratic Party filed the suit last week, saying Trump supporters at polling places could intimidate minority and other voters after he and his surrogates urged them to stop Democrats from stealing the election for Hillary Clinton.
U.S. District Judge James Gwin ruled Friday that anyone who engages in intimidation or harassment inside or near polling places would face contempt of court charges.
Democrats in several states have filed similar lawsuits, citing the Voting Rights Act from the 1960s and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 as the legal basis for why court orders are needed to prevent intimidation of minority voters.
Ohio Democrats claimed that the Ohio GOP, the Trump campaign, operative Roger Stone and the Stone political action committee Stop the Steal were conspiring to intimidate minority voters, who tend to support Democrats over Republicans.
Gwin dismissed the Ohio Republican Party from the case in his order.
Ohio law forbids people from advocating on behalf of a candidate or issue inside or within 100 feet of a polling place.
Gwin's order blocks activities by both campaigns that include unauthorized poll watching, the admonishing or questioning of voters, hindering or delaying a voter from entering or leaving a polling place, and taking photos or recording voters inside or near polling places.
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