The campaign of Donald Trump has filed an appeal of an order issued today by a federal judge in Cleveland prohibiting Trump ad his adviser Roger Stone from “harassing or intimidating conduct" at the polls Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge James Gwin says the order applies to Democrats as well as Republicans.
Democrats filed the complaint after Stone began recruiting people to conduct what he calls “exit polls” as part of his “stop the steal” campaign.
Gwin held a two-hour hearing before making his decision, and centered what Trump meant at a rally in Akron in August when he said, “You've got to get everybody to go out and watch, and go out and vote. And when I say 'watch,' you know what I'm talking about, right?"
Ohio law sets up a procedure for poll observers, who must be certified by boards of elections to be allowed inside polling places. They are not allowed to record or interact with voters, and must be sponsored by political parties, a pool of candidates or an issues campaign.
Trump has claimed repeatedly that the election is rigged and voting fraud is rampant. All studies of voter fraud show it is very rare, especially in in-person voting.
Click here for an overview of the rules for poll observers in the U.S.
