New York attorney general sends cease-and-desist letter to group accused of voter intimidation
Voters fill out their ballots at a polling site in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood, Nov. 8, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The New York attorney general's office on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, sent a cease-and-desist letter to a group accused of confronting voters at their homes while claiming to be state election officials and falsely accusing people of committing voter fraud. The letter orders the group NY Citizens Audit to immediately stop any voter intimidation efforts and turn over records reflecting its training of and communications with its door-to-door canvassers. Credit: AP/John Minchillo
ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York attorney general's office on Thursday sent a cease-and-desist letter to a group accused of confronting voters at their homes while claiming to be state election officials and falsely accusing people of committing voter fraud.
The letter orders the group NY Citizens Audit to immediately stop any voter intimidation efforts and turn over records on its training of and communications with its door-to-door canvassers.
“These allegations, if true, could constitute unlawful voter deception under New York state law and unlawful voter intimidation under both state and federal law,” reads the letter, which was obtained by the Associated Press.
In an emailed statement, NY Citizens Audit Executive Director Marly Hornik said: “New York Citizens Audit is not engaged in any canvassing, and we have not received this letter as of yet.”
NY Citizens Audit describes itself on its website as “dedicated to restoring and maintaining the essential, founding American principle of sovereignty through honest, provable elections in New York and across the nation.”
The attorney general's letter says in some cases voters have reported that canvassers displayed false badges or other identification to portray themselves as election workers. The attorney general's office said it has not seen evidence that anyone who was approached has committed voter fraud.
The letter comes after the New York State Board of Elections warned that voters in at least 13 counties had been approached by individuals purporting to be election officials who accused voters of committing fraud. A spokeswoman for the board said it had passed information about the incidents to state and federal law enforcement.
Absentee ballots sit inside a sealed ballot box during early voting in the primary election, June 14, 2023, in the SoHo neighborhood of New York. The New York attorney general's office on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, sent a cease-and-desist letter to a group accused of confronting voters at their homes while claiming to be state election officials and falsely accusing people of committing voter fraud. The letter orders the group NY Citizens Audit to immediately stop any voter intimidation efforts and turn over records reflecting its training of and communications with its door-to-door canvassers. Credit: AP/Mary Altaffer
The attorney general's office has given the group until Oct. 2 to turn over records including communications with anyone engaged in door-to-door canvassing, training documents for its canvassers and communications with any third parties regarding its canvassing efforts.
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