A U.S. district judge in Ohio issued a restraining order Friday that prevents anyone working on Donald Trump’s campaign from harassing and intimidating voters at the polls Tuesday.
The judge’s ruling came after a two-hour hearing during which Trump’s lawyer was asked to justify the Republican presidential candidate’s inflammatory rhetoric about voter fraud, Mother Jones reports. The order also applies to Roger Stone, a close Trump adviser who has organized poll-watching activities, as well as any “officers, agents, servants, and employees” of Trump and Stone.
According to Mother Jones, the restraining order is the result of a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Democratic Party against Trump, Stone and the Ohio Republican Party asking the court to declare it illegal to intimidate voters at the polls. The suit reportedly cited numerous examples of Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, encouraging supporters to watch the polls. The complaint also detailed efforts by Stone and his group Stop the Steal to recruit poll watchers and conduct exit polls on Election Day. Provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 that prohibit voter intimidation were cited in the complaint. Similar lawsuits have also been filed in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Michigan.
Late Friday afternoon, the Trump campaign appealed the ruling to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Read more at Mother Jones.