OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Six unnamed people are accused of intimidating voters at various polling locations in Oakland County.
The lawsuit submitted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU) states that six people threatened, intimidated, harassed and deterred voters from participating in the 2024 election.
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3 men filming voters at Birmingham polling location
A poll watcher who looked after four different polling locations in Oakland County on Election Day said three men with cameras filming people going in and out of a polling location in Birmingham.
One of the men was wearing a baseball cap that said, “Don’t annoy me, I’m an a**hole. My rights don’t stop where your feelings start.” The other two were described to be wearing “patriotic” shirts.
The polling worker told the three men they were not allowed to film people coming in and out of the polling location, but they told him it was their First Amendment right.
Other people passing out flyers near the polling station told the worker that the three men blocked a family from leaving the polling location, even when the family asked them to stop recording them.
At another polling location in Royal Oak, one of the same three men from the previous location was filming the area. This time, the man was wearing a gaiter to cover his nose and mouth and was accompanied by three other people who appeared to be intimidating the poll worker.
The precinct supervisor and the poll worker, again, told the individuals they were not allowed to film but were given the same response.
Some of that group left 10 to 15 minutes later after police arrived. However, two of them continued to film as they left the area.
The poll worker believes the group was part of an organized effort to invite negative responses or anger from poll workers and voters to capture on video.
Woman intimidated at Royal Oak polling location
The lawsuit stated a woman went to vote at a Royal Oak polling location at around 2 p.m. on Election Day. When she arrived, she saw two men and one woman recording voters using their phones.
The men wore masks covering their faces from the nose down. The woman said she heard poll workers telling the group to leave. The group proceeded to say they were permitted to film because they were part of the “media.”
As the woman went to go vote, one of the masked men approached her, stood four or five feet away and started filming. A poll worker asked the masked man to back away, but the man refused.
When the woman told the masked man she had a right to privacy, the man responded, “You don’t have a right to privacy while you’re voting, I’m not moving.”
The woman then stepped into the hallway because she felt intimidated. The masked man also stepped into the hallway, and the woman went back inside the polling area and voted.
The woman left the polling location and told police what happened to her. She drove by the polling place an hour later and saw that the three people who were filming her were still there when the police arrived.
Woman intimidated at Birmingham polling location
The lawsuit stated a second woman went to vote at a polling location in Birmingham on Election Day at around 1 p.m.
She said five men and one woman were in the hallway outside of the polling room. One man wore an American flag bandana over his face, while the others did not have their faces covered. The woman described one man as having a short beard and a black shirt, another as wearing a green shirt and a gray beard, and another as wearing an orange vest and a short beard.
The woman said the men and woman were recording video using their phones and used selfie sticks to insert the phones in the polling room.
The woman mentioned voters had to “almost push past” the group into the polling room because the group was blocking the door.
One of the men in the group followed the woman into the hallway. That’s when the woman told him, “This is why we vote.”
The man proceeded to put his phone a foot away from the woman’s face. When the woman told him he did not have permission to film her, he responded, “Your request has been denied.”
A woman in the group chimed in, “Oh, look at the reaction on her.”
The woman, feeling intimidated, went back into the polling room to be with her daughter. The group of people continued to film voters.
A poll worker helped her leave the polling location through another exit since she did not feel safe going on her own. She saw the group of people follow another voter to his car and saw they were filming her.
The woman reported her experience at a police station. Police told her that the group did not do anything illegal and there wasn’t nothing police could do “because it was free speech in a public space.”
Group of 6 filming at multiple Oakland County polling locations
The lawsuit said the ACLU was informed by two witnesses—a voter and a poll worker—that a group of six people were visiting multiple Oakland County polling locations, entering buildings where polling was happening, and filmed voters coming and going.
Restraining orders issued
A temporary restraining order was issued to the six people. The court ordered the individuals to cease the harassment or intimidation of voters at or outside of the polling locations during the November 2024 Election, including filming voters.
The accused must show cause before the court on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at 2 p.m. on why they should not have the retraining order.