John,

We’ve been here before: private agents are engaging in illegal voter intimidation to keep people from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Ahead of the 2020 election, Tennessee-based private security contractor Atlas Aegis attempted to scare voters in Minnesota, threatening to send ex-special forces soldiers to guard polling places in Minnesota against “antifas” and those who support “Black Lives Matter.” Free Speech For People, on behalf of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) and the League of Women Voters of Minnesota (LWV-MN), filed a federal lawsuit against Atlas Aegis for engaging in illegal voter intimidation in the North Star State and we won in a major victory for our democracy.

But the threat remains ever-present as we approach the 2022 midterms. Right now in Colorado, agents of the United States Election Integrity Plan (USEIP), an extremist organization with ties to QAnon and the January 6th Capitol Insurrection, are using public voter lists to find and interrogate voters at their homes, demanding to know if they participated in the 2020 election, pressing them for information on how they cast their votes, questioning them about so-called fraudulent ballots, in some cases even claiming without basis that fraudulent ballots were cast from their homes, and taking photographs of their homes. These actions particularly impact communities of color, which have historically faced institutionalized barriers, violent threats, and intimidation for exercising their right to vote. USEIP is expanding its operations to Arizona, Georgia, and New Hampshire ahead of the 2022 election.

Free Speech For People is now taking the United States Election Integrity Plan and its leaders to court on behalf of the NAACP of Colorado, League of Women Voters of Colorado, and Mi Familia Vota. We are asking a federal judge to stop this organization’s illegal voter intimidation campaign. No one should have to be afraid that voting will result in them being intimidated and photographed at their own homes.

Make no mistake: these instances of voter intimidation violate both the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. They must be stopped before they can be used against voters across the country. We will continue to fight against any and all threats to the constitutional right to vote. Together, we can ensure that every American can vote without fear of intimidation or reprisal.

In solidarity,
Free Speech For People