Protect and Own Your Vote!
Our #VoteReady Toolkit below has tons of resources and information to ensure you have all the information you need to cast your ballot and ensure it counts. Whether it’s voter registration, early voting, or vote-by-mail deadlines; what to do if your vote or ID is challenged; and how to address experiences of voter intimidation, ballot initiatives, or candidate research, we have the facts for you!
You may have seen recent attempts at voter intimidation and suppression in the news. It is imperative that you know your rights and how to protect yourself and your vote! Our toolkit has some great resources addressing this, AND here are some additional web pages you should bookmark from our partners at the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR).
Download The Toolkit to your phone to use during this election season!
Reporting Intimidation, Harassment, and Threats of Violence:
In this time of increased threats around the election, our communities must know where to report voting intimidation, harassment, and threats of violence. While there have been reports of potential threats, plans, people, organizations, and government agencies are working to keep us as safe as possible. We must all play a role in our safety, which means being and staying informed, reporting issues you see with the appropriate authorities, remaining alert, and voting early if you can to limit the number of people at the polling locations on Election Day (which will help the appropriate personnel move quickly in the case of an emergency). Check out our toolkit for more information, but below are quick tips if something unexpected happens:
- In addition to contacting the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE, we are encouraging our communities to contact local offices of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which has a vital role in deterring and combating such conduct.
- DOJ has designated “District Election Officers” in its 94 U.S. Attorney offices nationwide as the local point of contact for such complaints. You and your loved ones must know that the DOJ has a local presence for this purpose since we know that voters experiencing intimidation will likely not want to call local law enforcement, which is often the source of intimidation or harassment. We encourage you to get the word out to your communities that District Election Officers are trusted representatives of the DOJ on the ground to contact in the event of intimidation and violence. As we have seen, hate incidents increase during election cycles. Individuals can be encouraged to document and report incidents of bias that may arise, if they are comfortable doing so, to their FBI field office. Additional information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/voting.
Civil rights violations that are a federal criminal offense include the following:
- Someone threatens a voter with physical or economic harm unless the voter casts his ballot in a particular way
- Someone tries to prevent qualified voters from getting to the polls in a federal election (this can include intimidation from an employer, community leader, or anyone else)
- A scheme exists to prevent minorities from voting
- The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is the central hub for reporting cyber-enabled crime. It is run by the FBI, the lead federal agency investigating crime. You can file an internet-based crime complaint at https://www.ic3.gov/
- You can learn more about what is and is not a federal election crime HERE, keeping in mind that there may be additional laws to follow at the state and local levels. Information on election threats can be found HERE. Voting Rights information can be found HERE. Hurricane-related voter assistance can be found HERE.
For partner organizations:
Political Violence- Safety and De-escalation Resources:
- Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative is a nonpartisan research initiative that tracks and mitigates political violence in states. They are coordinating national de-escalation resources for local groups. https://bit.ly/ResourcesContacts2024Fall and De-escalation Directory: Trainers and Trainings Available in Your State
- www.electionviolenceprevention.org
Non-partisan Messaging Guidance:
- From Over Zero, please see resources for election violence prevention, including messaging guidance overall and for various scenarios, at https://electionviolenceprevention.org/
- A host of messaging will be available in the days after the election.
- The expected nonpartisan messaging guidance from The Leadership Conference, which I reference above, will be developed in conjunction with the ESRN network and also factor in election protection-related information.