National Campaigns

Why I Vote

As the Election Protection coalition, we believe it is imperative to highlight and share the passion and unique reasons behind why people vote in an effort to encourage more community members to do the same. Election Protection is running a social media campaign called #WhyIVote as an opportunity to share stories around our communities’ voting experiences. Election Protection collected stories from voters on: how they prefer to vote, where they vote and, of course, why voting is important to them with–in hopes of inspiring others to do the same. Please consider sharing voting experiences and motivation here.  

Why I Volunteer

The Election Protection Coalition believes that it is imperative to highlight and properly thank the unsung heroes of our democracy. Volunteer service before, on, and after Election Day helps ensure that every eligible voter is able to cast a ballot. The campaign adds a new way to showcase our work and uplift the dynamics stories volunteers on the ground through the volunteer spotlight series. In addition, we’ll be using the #WhyIVolunteer hashtag to celebrate the tireless efforts of democracy defenders like poll workers, call center volunteers and the amazing poll monitors we all know in our states as a means to thank their work as well as a new avenue for volunteer recruitment. Please consider sharing volunteer experiences and inspiration here.

Student & Youth Engagement

From September through November of 2020, Election Protection launched a voter engagement and education campaign in the memory and honor of civil rights pioneer Representative John Lewis. The campaign sought to support student leaders at Historically Black Colleges and Universities by providing financial, educational and organizing support to leaders looking to mobilize their campus. The campaign goals included: (1) Mobilize youth voters at HBCUs  by supporting and amplifying  student-led voter programming. (2) Amplify Election Protection and break into the student voting advocacy space at HBCUs and more broadly. (3) Galvanize support and encourage promotion of the Election Protection Hotline number and student participation in Election Protection. The elements of the HBCUs Vote campaign included the John Lewis HBCU subgrant, a Young Voter Resource Guide, engagement with the #WhyIVote campaign, and student voter advocate trainings. In April 2022, Common Cause and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law led a two-day virtual Election Protection Youth Engagement Workshop called, “Democracy Justice League: Training the Next Generation of Voting Rights Heroes.” Participants ages 18-26 from GA, NC, and PA learned about a variety of federal and state voting rights advocacy issues and received formal Election Protection training from state-based partners in their state of residency.

Lawyers & Collars

The Lawyers & Collars campaign is a partnership with the National African American Clergy Network and Sojourners. Together, we seek to recruit and train an army of clergy (often in their sacred collars) and church-based lawyers to provide a moral and legal presence at the polls and support the Election Protection program in areas we expect voter suppression tactics to be used. In 2020, we trained over 500 clergy and church-based attorneys to support voters in nine states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.