"Election Protection" Project Makes Debut
Feature Story by Tia Sumler - 6/28/2001
A new initiative designed to inform voters of their rights and provide direct voter assistance to ensure that poll workers respect those rights debuted in Virginia's 4th District's special election, June 19, 2001. Dubbed "Election Protection," the project was conceived by People For the American Way Foundation (PFAWF) as a response to the widespread irregularities documented in the November elections."After November 7, we realized how crucially important it is to make sure that voters know about their rights and can exercise them on the spot on election day," said Ralph G. Neas, President of People For the American Way Foundation. "The right to vote is just words on paper if people can be unjustly or arbitrarily turned away."
Partnering with PFAWF in the Election Protection endeavor are the NAACP National Voter Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
The effort consisted of voter education efforts, including distribution at the polls and door-to-door of a Voter's Bill of Rights which enumerated basic tenets of the law. Election Protection volunteers were also on hand at the polls to provide direct assistance, such as referencing copies of the voter rolls to see if an individual was registered, or explaining how to ask to fill out an affidavit to vote without ID. If a voter was having problems beyond the scope of the training of the volunteers, a team of lawyers representing PFAWF, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund were on call to provide legal advice.
The on-site Election Protection activities focused primarily on Petersburg and other areas in the district with the highest percentage of African American voters, who have traditionally been underrepresented at the polls and more likely than other voters to suffer disenfranchisement. (Virginia is one of the states covered by the federal Voting Rights Act because of a history of disenfranchising African American citizens.) While there were no major abuses reported, the effort was deemed a success. Nearly every volunteer reported that they had been responsible for helping someone vote. Registered voters turned away for lack of ID or because they had come to the wrong precinct were given the information they needed to exercise their right to vote.
