The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and our partners are currently recruiting volunteers for the 2006 national Election Protection program.
Election Protection, the nation's largest non-partisan voter protection coalition, is led by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the NAACP, the National Bar Association, and People For the American Way Foundation. Election Protection provides direct voter assistance through our toll-free hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE, and through legal field programs in targeted states.
Election Protection guides voters through the voting process, helping to ensure that all eligible voters have the opportunity to cast a meaningful ballot and have their vote counted. While Election Protection is a resource for all Americans, the program centers 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.
Interested volunteers should sign up online at http://www.866OurVote.org.
Volunteer attorneys, paralegals, and law students are needed in Washington, DC, New York, and San Francisco to staff the national voter hotline on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7th (6:00 a.m. - 12:00 midnight EST) and Monday, November 6, 2006 (8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST).
In addition, volunteers are needed in Washington, D.C. starting Monday, October 16th through Friday, November 3rd (Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.) to staff the national voter hotline for early voting.
The hotline will provide immediate assistance to voters who encounter problems attempting to vote on Election Day in states across the country. Expected problems include dissemination of misinformation by poll workers, problems associated with voting machines (including new electronic ones), and potential intimidation of voters in minority communities.
All volunteers (including those who volunteered in 2004) must attend a 1.5 hour training session. Legal materials, including Voter's Bills of Rights and Frequently Asked Questions, will be provided for all 50 states.
Sign up for hotline shifts online at www.866OurVote.org.
Local Legal Field Efforts - Targeted Locations
Volunteer attorneys, law students, and paralegals are needed to serve as Mobile Field Attorneys, staff local voter hotlines, and/or serve as "on-call" lawyers on Election Day in targeted locations.
Mobile Field Attorneys roam between several pre-assigned targeted polling locations, providing in-person assistance to voters at the polls in coordination with the local hotline and local Legal Command Center. In some locations, calls to the national voter hotline (1-866-OUR-VOTE) will be routed to a local phone bank staffed by volunteers. Finally, in some areas, "on call" attorneys will be dispatched to polling places or the local Board of Elections if serious problems arise.
Sign up online at www.866OurVote.org to be a local legal field volunteer.
All volunteers must attend a 1.5 hour training session. You will receive further information about the legal field program in your community in the coming weeks. Please note that we are not supporting "traveling volunteers."
Targeted locations include (list still being finalized): Montgomery County, Alabama; Maricopa County and Pima County in Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Miami-Dade, Broward, and other locations in Florida; Atlanta, Georgia metro area; New Orleans, Louisiana; Boston, Massachusetts; Baltimore, Montgomery, and Prince George's County, Maryland; Detroit, Michigan; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; Mississippi; St. Louis and Jackson County, Missouri; New Jersey; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Hamilton, Cuyahoga, and Franklin County, Ohio; Philadelphia metro area and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Columbia, South Carolina; Houston, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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