In March, a court ruled that Pennsylvania election officials must reject mail-in ballots that are received on time, but are either missing a date on their return envelope or marked with an “incorrect” date (such as a voter’s birth date). By April, Public Rights Project’s (PRP) Election Protection Hub (EPH) had filed an amicus brief in support of requests for a rehearing on the case from the ACLU and the Department of State. The goal? To prevent widespread voter disenfranchisement because of a clerical and immaterial error.
During that same period, the EPH team also filed an amicus brief on behalf of a coalition of current elections officials in the Wisconsin Supreme Court arguing that unstaffed drop boxes improve voting access and should be reinstated. As threats against voting rights, and specifically, election workers mount, PRP’s Election Protection Hub is moving swiftly to defend government officials who have deep knowledge of their communities and are invested in the democratic process.
Election Protection Hub’s Rapid Response
PRP’s work in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin occurred simultaneously with a technical assistance project for an election clerk and security training for nearly 40 local election officials. With its robust menu of legal services, PRP is uniquely positioned to serve pro-democracy officials with direct legal support in battleground states. Here’s why local elections officials are working with PRP:
We have a national network of partners. The Election Protection team is regularly in touch with local government officials and democracy nonprofits with a state-specific presence. In addition, we have deep relationships with former Public Rights Projects’ Fellows who work in Secretaries of State, Attorneys General, and other government offices across the country. For the recent Pennsylvania brief, PRP moved quickly to reach partners who helped spread the world and build an amicus brief coalition.
Our team has diverse skills and experience. Our understanding of legal structures and frameworks enables us to be nimble and effective. The EPH team includes staff attorneys who previously helped prevent absentee ballots from being thrown out in Pennsylvania and Texas. PRP also supported election officials in Michigan to ensure they had the resources to respond to challenges and to protect more than 25,000 votes in Detroit. In addition, our subject matter expert – a former elections official – provides key guidance about the challenges facing election administrators.
We have our finger on the pulse. The EPH team is focused solely on defending elections officials in 2024 and beyond. We track election matters of all kinds at a state level, identify election clerks who have developed innovative solutions, and monitor legal efforts to subvert elections. Our staff attorneys, with the support of our Director of Organizing, are working in battleground states where they are learning from local leaders and digging into state laws that affect elections. For example, when EPH identified the Wisconsin drop box initiative as an opportunity to protect voting rights, we reached out to our state contacts and gathered critical information from clerks on the ground to inform our amicus brief argument.
Get Legal Support Now
The Election Protection Hub aims to support voting access, remove barriers election clerks face to doing their job, and elevate clerks’ expertise in how state laws are shaped. We are a trusted partner to nearly 100 local elections officials across the country. From abusive FOIA requests to fighting mis- and disinformation, PRP recognizes that your job to administer elections has become more challenging than ever. If you need assistance quickly, our team is ready to help this election season. Get in touch.
