RNC Signs Consent Decree Banning Voter Intimidation After Armed Ballot Security Task Force

The Republican National Committee signed a consent decree in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey prohibiting tactics that could intimidate Democratic voters, settling a lawsuit filed by the Democratic National Committee over the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election. In that election, the RNC’s National Ballot Security Task Force stationed armed off-duty police officers wearing black armbands at polling places in African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods of Newark and Trenton, where they brandished weapons, questioned voters, and posted illegal warning signs stating ‘This area is being patrolled by the National Ballot Security Task Force.’ The DNC sued alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act, illegal harassment, and voter intimidation. The consent decree, supervised by Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise for 34 years, prevented the Republican Party from engaging in voter suppression activities and required federal court review of any proposed ‘ballot security’ programs including voter caging operations. The RNC attempted to vacate the decree multiple times but was rejected until 2009, when the court agreed to modifications including an expiration date of December 1, 2017. Democrats’ request for extension based on Trump campaign activities was denied in January 2018. The 2020 election was the first presidential election since 1980 in which the RNC was legally permitted to conduct ‘ballot security operations,’ immediately raising concerns about renewed voter intimidation.