On November 2, 2016, the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs organized a training session aimed at helping volunteers spot common voting problems on election day.
A voter marks his ballot inside a voting booth at a polling site for the New Hampshire primary February in Nashua. (David Goldman/AP)
A nonpartisan Boston-based organization is training election protection volunteers to monitor the voting process across the country on Election Day.
Given the heated political rhetoric ahead of Nov. 8, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice says it’s seeing increased desire from folks wanting to get involved, including here in Massachusetts.
At a recent packed, all-ages training session at Harvard Law School, Sophia Hall detailed volunteer poll monitoring.
Hall is a staff attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee and is coordinating the volunteers in collaboration with local partners like the ACLU and the Women’s League of Voters.
The groups are banding together to help monitor polling places for issues like voter intimidation and access to translators — basically anything that could prevent someone from being able to cast their ballot.
Many of the volunteers at the training will be deployed into 11 cities throughout the state on Election Day — including Boston, Springfield, Lawrence and New Bedford.
Filed in: In the News, Pro Bono
Contact Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs
Website:
hls.harvard.edu/clinics
Email:
clinical@law.harvard.edu