Protecting voters since 2020

In Virginia, we joined the state’s nonpartisan Election Protection Coalition and found a gap it could not fill on its own: the ability to monitor and respond to online mis- and disinformation. We brought in expert-led training for coalition leaders, staff, and volunteers, built a trained monitoring team, and staffed an Election Day command center with a direct line to the coalition’s own — watching platforms from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., flagging problem content for removal, and pushing accurate information out to counter it.

New Jersey came late, after allies raised concerns about a tightening governor’s race and the announced deployment of federal “election monitors.” We offered training modeled on the Virginia program and, when the U.S. Attorney publicly threatened prosecutions for election offenses that did not exist under state law, connected the coalition with rapid legal support through We the Action and helped open a direct line between the ACLU of New Jersey and a broader network of election law experts.

In a year of new AI-driven threats and platforms stepping back from moderating election content, we focused on the “late-arriving volunteer” — the person who shows up in the final weeks and needs a fast, practical way to counter disinformation without making it worse. We built state-specific counter-disinformation toolkits with national and state experts, ran geo-targeted digital outreach to voters, operated an Election Day tip line, and reported voter-targeting disinformation to the platforms — getting some of it removed, and documenting what they left up.

The training material we developed with partners centered on what actually works: productive conversations that build trust, historical context on how disinformation grows out of voter suppression, and response frameworks — do no harm, weigh reach before responding, use a “truth sandwich” — that counter false claims without amplifying them.

Voter Protection Corps was built for 2020 by veteran voter protection practitioners who expected the cycle to be unlike any before it — and then the pandemic arrived. As spring primaries were disrupted by poll closures and long lines, we partnered with data scientists at Carnegie Mellon University to produce Keep the Polls Open, an action plan for protecting in-person voting: keep neighborhood polling sites open, recruit and protect poll workers, expand early voting, and tell voters clearly that voting is safe.

When the New Hampshire Republican Party asked the state to bar remote-learning college students from voting where they attend school, we launched a Know Your Rights education campaign — digital and print advertising plus social media monitoring — so students knew they were still eligible. It was an early version of the counter-disinformation work that has defined our program since.

Explore the full 2020 program   Read Keep the Polls Open (PDF)