Trying to be useful on Election Day and after--any resources?

October 20, 2020 10:51 AM

Are there organizations--either affiliated with the Democratic Party or with external groups--that need volunteers to help ensure that voters are able to vote on election day, and that all the votes are counted, and re-counted if necessary, in November?

I live in California, so much of my pre-election activity has been focused on local campaigns and some phone-banking in FL and PA. But like many registered Democrats, I want to do more. I've done my fair share of reading on the President's 12th Amendment election strategy, and on the likelihood of voter intimidation at the polls, and so on -- this kinda stuff. I'm wondering if there are organizations I can connect with that are specifically trying to defend the integrity of the vote during balloting and during counting. Examples of things I'm talking about:

** poll-watching and right-wing voter intimidation de-escalation on polling day and at early voting locations

** participating somehow in vote counts and recounts (do the parties get to play some role in monitoring this from both sides)

** preventing/countering/monitoring the next Brooks Brothers riot

Basically, I'm a privileged person who is concerned about formal and informal voter disenfranchisement, and I am able to fly somewhere and be there for several days before, during, and/or after the election.

posted by kensington314 to Law & Government (5 answers total)

See my post on the blue from last night: How to Stop a Coup.
posted by NotLost at 11:05 AM on October 20, 2020 [4 favorites]

I don't know about on site needs, but the Georgia Democrats are actively recruiting people to do voter protection efforts right now during early voting (staffing phone and text banking to help people having issues at the polls, or who need more information or have concerns about possible voter suppression). They are also looking for people who can commit to shifts after Nov 3rd to help contact voters to fix their fixable ballot issue. This last part is where you can really make a difference, because after many announced results both parties in close local races are on a race against time to contact 'their' voters (or voters they believe will break their way) and convince them to go through a process to resolve their ballot issues so that their vote can be counted. If you're looking for other opportunities to do this outside of Georgia, the jargony term to search for for these types of efforts is "ballot curing."
posted by deludingmyself at 8:40 PM on October 20, 2020

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is partnering with Southern Crossroads to phone bank likely Democrat voters to help them navigate Georgia's voting process to assure they are registered (though it is unfortunately too late to register if they aren't already) and have a voting plan, and every step of the conversation using online resources (some from the state of Georgia, some not, because the online resources offered by the state of Georgia are pretty terrible) to do things like find their nearest drop box, find their early voting location (likely different from their day-of voting location) and its hours, etc.

More info here.
posted by solotoro at 8:40 AM on October 21, 2020

Whoops, sorry, I somehow missed that you were specifically asking for Election Day and AFTER. Well, at least the effort I linked above does include work on November 3rd.
posted by solotoro at 8:56 AM on October 21, 2020

The North Carolina Democratic Party voter protection team has several ways to help, both remotely and on the ground in NC: tinyurl.com/voteprovols
posted by last_fall at 10:32 PM on October 28, 2020