Leaked Documents From Right-Wing Militants Show History Of Voter Intimidation Schemes

A series of leaked internal messages and documents from the militant group American Patriots Three Percent – also known as AP3 – reveal how the group is working with dissident groups as part of a campaign to inspect ballot boxes during the 2022 midterm elections.

The information was leaked to Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets), a non-profit organization that claims to publish hacked and leaked documents for public benefit. The man behind this AP3 leak is a man who, according to his statement uploaded by DDoSecrets, joined the military and was so horrified by what he saw that he felt compelled to come forward with the information before the upcoming presidential election.

Election and federal officials have expressed concern about possible voter intimidation this November, in part because of the rise in political violence and boycotts. Some right-wing parties have already committed to monitoring remote ballot boxes using AI-driven cameras. And last month, a Homeland Security report warned that domestic extremist groups may plan to destroy election infrastructure, including ballot drop boxes.

Devin Burghart, president and executive director of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, says the leaked AP3 plans for 2022 should be a warning of what could happen next month. “Failure to boycott elections that promote militias armed with drop-off boxes is a dangerous form of voter intimidation,” Burghart told WIRED. “The increasing disapproval of the elections, the increase in the military, and the increasing communication between them, is a cause of great concern in November. Now that there are voter pressure groups like True the Vote and other GOP elected officials targeting drop boxes for vigilante work, this situation should raise alarm bells. “

The 2022 leaked messages show how AP3 and other militias are providing paramilitary monitoring of ballot boxes organized by “The People’s Movement,” the group that led the 2021 anti-vaccine protest, and Clean Elections USA, an affiliated group. and the group. group behind 2000 mules a film that lied about voter fraud. In leaked interviews, People’s Movement leader Carolyn Smith identifies herself as a respected member of AP3.

AP3 is run by Scot Seddon, a former Army Reservist, Long Islander, and male model, according to a ProPublica profile of him published in August. That profile, which relied on an anonymous hacker who leaked AP3’s internal messages to DDoSecrets, explains that AP3 escaped scrutiny after January 6 in part because Seddon, after spending weeks preparing his teams to go to DC, finally decided to save the troops for another day. . ProPublica reported that some members left anyway but were under strict orders to drop any AP3 signs. According to the leaked messages, Seddon also ordered his country’s leaders to participate in “this plan”.