ICYMI: Far-right "constitutional sheriffs" threatening the midterms

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

ADL
@ADL
·
Follow
Our Center on Extremism's @egavactip has been sounding the alarm on anti-government extremist #CSPOA for years. Disturbing to see the election-denying influence on law enforcement growing ahead of the midterms. We must ensure equal and fair voting for all.

salon.com
Far-right "constitutional sheriffs" threatening the midterms
Right-wing sheriff guru: "We will not let happen what happened in 2020." To voting rights groups, it's a threat
6:42 AM · Sep 25, 2022

https://www.salon.com/2022/09/20/far-right-constitutional-sheriffs-now-turn-to-hunting-fraud-in-midterm/

A controversial group of right-wing sheriffs that has spread false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and propagated Donald Trump's Big Lie is now vowing to monitor this year's midterm elections through surveillance of drop boxes and a hotline for reporting purported election fraud.

The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) supports the far-right fringe belief that under the U.S. Constitution county sheriffs have extensive power that supersedes all other federal, state or local authorities. It has recently partnered up with a Texas nonprofit called True the Vote, which has peddled conspiracy theories about voter fraud. Now the two groups are promising to keep on investigating allegations about a "stolen election" in 2020 and also to police future voting. For election authorities and voting rights advocates, the combination is ominous.

This partnership provides an insight into the role the "constitutional sheriff" movement is playing in sowing doubts about the election process and monitoring how voters cast their ballots. Such efforts amount to voter intimidation and voter suppression in many cases, advocates say.

Having county elected officials spreading conspiracy theories "makes it more difficult to break down the walls of voters that we're talking to," said Natali Bock, co-executive director of Rural Arizona Action. "There is a cynicism that takes root when you have these outlandish stories." That kind of "misinformation spreads like wildfire," she continued, "and instead of just being able to present facts, now we are have to do a lot of relationship building."

*snip*

[Drum]

1. All hat, no cattle

[Nevilledog]

2. I'm not convinced of that.

[Drum]

3. I'm sorry, clarifying:

I should’ve indicated that I was snarking about the image in the thread. My bad…I was not responding in an editorial sense.

[Nevilledog]

5. Gotcha

[albacore]

4. I wrote an LTTE to our local paper... they published it....

______ has advertised himself as a “Constitutional Sheriff”, the people of _____ county should avoid this would-be dictator like the plague. He has zero years of law enforcement experience, but he certainly does have an autocratic political agenda.
“Constitutional Sheriffs” are a fringe movement that believes that county sheriffs are the supreme power within their respective counties. They believe they are the legal authority of last resort on issues including property rights, gun law, public health measures, and immigration, and a host of other issues. They draw their origins from violent anti-Semitic and anti-government movements in the 1970s and 1980s opposed to taxes and foreclosures.
The text of the Constitution does not mention sheriffs anywhere within it. The Constitution requires that “the Laws of the United States…shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” If there is any conflict between federal law and state or local law, then federal law will override the state or local ordinances, not the other way around. Any arguments that these sheriffs have regarding state or local power overriding federal authority died with the Confederacy after the Civil War ended.
“Constitutional sheriffs” contend that their authority supersedes that of all other government officials - Federal, state, or local - and they they want to decide which laws passed by our elected governments they wish to enforce, and which they don’t
This ignores our entire history and is antithetical to our form of government. 
Un-American.


[Nevilledog]

6. Really good letter! Thank you for doing that.