News

Lawyers' Committee Seeking Legal Volunteers for Election Protection

  • 10/23/2012
  • Nancy Anderson
  • The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
  • Source: New York

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its coalition partners seek volunteer attorneys, paralegals and law students to staff the non-partisan national voter hotline (1-866-Our-Vote) on November 6th (Election Day) (November 1st through 6th in New York City) and the legal field program on November 6th (Election Day) in cities across the country. Election Protection is the nation’s largest non-partisan voter protection coalition and helps all voters across the country, particularly those traditionally disenfranchised. Volunteers attend a 90-minute training, and then sign for hotline and/or legal field shifts. 

Currently, the Election Protection hotline is receiving over 1,000 calls a day from voters with questions about photo identification requirements, voter registration, early voting and more. Over 100,000 calls are anticipated on Nov. 5th and 6th, with additional issues arising such as polling place not open, problems with machines, and poll worker confusion over new rules. Hotline volunteers answer voters’ questions and report problems to election administration officials, providing a critical resource available to all voters. The legal field program helps identify issues at the polls and resolve problems when appropriate. Field volunteers serve on teams that rotate through specific polling locations.  Volunteers are particularly needed for the early shift as most problems occur in the early morning.

Those interested in volunteering can visit http://volunteer.866ourvote.org to sign up for for both training and volunteer shifts. Questions should be directed to Nancy Anderson, Director of Pro Bono, at nanderson@lawyerscomm.org or 202-663-8354.

Topics:
  • Civil Rights