Securing the Vote
In the 2022 midterm elections, the firm once again worked with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to run the New Jersey “command center” for Election Protection, a nonpartisan voter assistance hotline. Command center volunteers track issues throughout the election and communicate with election officials to resolve problems as they arise.
While voters faced many challenges at the polls during early voting and on Election Day (broken machines, electioneering at polling places, improper voter identification requirements, and others), a coalition of voting rights advocates in New Jersey worked to identify, report, and help solve those challenges in real time. Together with the ACLU of New Jersey, Disability Rights New Jersey, Lawyers for Equal Access to Advocacy & Dignity, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, firm volunteers coordinated responses to help eligible voters get their ballots counted. The coalition worked closely with county boards of elections, the state Division of Elections, and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to report issues that were affecting groups of voters. In this election cycle, those issues were concentrated in Mercer County, where machines were out of service throughout Election Day.
We continue to have conversations with state officials to provide feedback on voters’ experiences and suggestions on improving the process for future elections.
