Judge Rules in Favor of Group That Sent Election Fraud Investigators Door to Door

Election judges verify and count ballots at the Denver Elections Division in Denver, Colo., on Nov. 3, 2020. (Chet Strange/AFP via Getty Images)

A federal judge on July 18 dismissed a lawsuit brought against a group that sent people door to door as part of an effort to investigate possible election fraud.

The U.S. Election Integrity Plan and its leaders were accused by organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, of illegally engaging in voter intimidation with its canvassing in Colorado following the 2020 election, which allegedly included taking photographs of residences and asking for residents to confirm information such as their names.

U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney tossed the suit on July 18 after a trial of several days, according to court documents.

The dismissal was made after Yvette Roberts of Grand Junction, Colorado, a key witness for the plaintiffs, testified that she did not know whether canvassers who came to her home in 2021 were affiliated with the U.S. Election Integrity Plan, Colorado Politics reported.

Ms. Roberts had earlier attested that the canvassers were sent by the group.

Both parties tried to touch on outside matters, Judge Sweeney said from the bench as she dismissed the case. She also said that voter intimidation does happen.

“The court has no doubt that voter intimidation efforts ... occurred in this country and continue to occur in this country. But the court cannot conclude defendants were part of that effort without sufficient evidence,” she said. “There was no evidence of voter intimidation, but simply a risk of voter intimidation. This court will not act on risk that was proven unfounded.”

Canvassers wore badges that identified themselves as being part of “official-sounding groups” such as the “Voter Integrity Committee” and sometimes introduced themselves in ways that gave the impression that they were with government agencies, according to the suit. Canvassers asked residents about how they voted in 2020.

Some of the canvassers carried weapons, according to plaintiffs. They said the actions violated federal laws, including the Ku Klux Klan Act.

Defendants said the election integrity group was founded to find the truth about elections and that they sent canvassers out, but that their efforts were not illegal.

An attorney for Free Speech for People, an organization that says it aims to defend the Constitution, told news outlets in a statement that the group was disappointed in the ruling and was exploring its options. Plaintiffs could ask a federal appeals court to consider reinstating the case.

Holly Kasun, a member of the U.S. Election Integrity Plan and one of the defendants, wrote on social media platform X that the ruling amounted to “complete and total vindication.”