*The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Election Protection
is looking for volunteers to provide _non-partisan_ assistance to voters*
We are clearly in the midst of an exciting and important election season
here in Wisconsin. As law students, we are perhaps uniquely qualified
and uniquely obligated to help ensure that all eligible Wisconsin
residents have the opportunity to participate fully in the democratic
process, that is, to cast a meaningful ballot on November 4 and have
their votes counted. To that end, we are asking you to volunteer a few
hours of your time to Wisconsin’s Election Protection program.**
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s Election Protection
program is the nation’s largest _non-partisan_ voter protection
coalition and has provided meaningful support to hundreds of thousands
of voters since its inception following the 2000 general election. The
cornerstone of the Election Protection program is the 1-866-OUR-VOTE
hotline (and the Spanish-language 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA hotline), staffed by
volunteers like you. In 2004 the hotline took more than 200,000 calls
from voters all across the country and this year promises to be even
busier with new voter registrations sky-rocketing. In addition to the
hotline, Election Protection also relies on legal volunteers to monitor
the polls and to travel to polling locations when problems arise to help
resolve issues in real time. The majority of law student volunteers will
be assigned the position of poll monitor, and will help to alleviate
potential problems such as dissemination of misinformation by poll
workers, problems associated with voting machines, and potential
intimidation of voters.
Election Protection is a resource for all Americans, but is specifically
focused on traditionally disenfranchised communities, including: African
Americans, Latinos, and other racial, ethnic, and language minorities;
seniors; young people; low-income voters; and individuals with
disabilities. If you are interested in helping protect Wisconsin voters
in this November’s election, all we ask is that you commit to attend one
brief training session held in late October and sign up for one shift
(4-5 hours) on Election Day. All of the materials that you will need
will be provided. We intend to concentrate our poll monitoring efforts
on Madison and Dane County, but if volunteer interest is high, we may
also try to cover targeted wards in other communities, such as Racine,
Kenosha, Janesville and Beloit. To volunteer, please contact Emily Lee
at _egreb@wisc.edu_, or Alfonso Cornish at _cornish@wisc.edu_
Submitted by Deb Cutler on October 17, 2008
This article appears in the categories: Other