MIDWEST VOTING RIGHTS PROGRAM
The right to vote is fundamental to a healthy democracy.
We are continuing our decades-long effort to help ensure compliance with election law and fair access to the vote.
The Midwest Voting Rights Program of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights includes the following focus areas:
Providing election day resources via the Election Protection program.
Partnering with incarcerated and returning community members to expand voting rights.
Ensuring racial equity in redistricting (drawing voting precinct boundaries).
Engaging in litigation in defense of civil rights or compliance with election law.
Advocating for racially equitable election laws in Illinois and Indiana.
We work to eliminate barriers to voting and civic participation, especially in communities of color and low-income communities.
Election Protection
A nonpartisan voting rights program that trains legal professionals to serve as poll watchers and answer the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline.
In 2001, the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law launched the Election Protection program, which leverages the legal community’s knowledge of election law to combat disenfranchisement.
Election Protection is now the nation’s largest non-partisan voter protection coalition, deploying thousands of volunteer attorneys during every general election to oversee the balloting process and ensure voting laws in each state are upheld.
Registered voters can be denied the right to vote by a range of issues, including:
faulty equipment
poorly designed ballots
late polling place openings
incorrect information from poll workers
voter intimidation
Election Protection:
Provides comprehensive voter information and educates the public on their right to vote.
Offers nonpartisan hotlines to answer voter questions and report problems.
Sends monitors to polling locations to oversee procedures and answer on-site questions.
Collects voter data and experiences, which are used to drive election law reform through community education, legislation, and litigation.
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights is grateful to the national Lawyers’ Committee and Kirkland & Ellis LLP for their critical support and partnership on Election Protection.
Program facilitator:
Ami Gandhi
agandhi@clccrul.org
Follow the link for ELECTION PROTECTION volunteer training &
voter resources
Information on how to participate in call center or field observation duties on election day.
Links to local and state election boards for voter registration and polling locations.
Advocacy for Voting Rights and Fair Elections
Supporting election law enforcement and racially equitable election laws in Illinois and Indiana.
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights is ever vigilant against election law violations or attempts to diminish voter access.
We listen to voters and community leaders and help to pass laws that increase access to the polls or stop harmful laws that do the opposite.
MIDWEST VOTING RIGHTS PROGRAM - Case Highlights
Challenged an Indiana county’s inappropriate requirement for extra voter identification beyond what is required by state law.
2022
Provided legal representation to Indiana partners, Common Cause Indiana and League of Women Voters of Greater Lafayette, in drafting and filing an administrative complaint with the Indiana Election Commission. The complaint was successful in challenging a local county’s imposition of an additional ID requirement beyond what is required by law - ID that many young voters lack, including young voters of color. The Commission concluded that county election officials violated state and federal law and ordered officials to retrain staff and improve their processes.
Protected the freedom to vote by advocating against harmful attempts to purge voter rolls.
2024
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, alongside other voting rights advocates and other non-partisan organizations, submitted a formal advocacy letter opposing Indiana Attorney General’s and Secretary of States’ request to verify the citizenship of nearly 600,000 voters, citing potential violations of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). We warned that this effort could lead to voter intimidation and the improper removal of eligible voters just weeks before the election. We also emphasized that Indiana has no documented problems of widespread voter fraud and that such actions undermine confidence in the electoral process.
Led nonpartisan Election Protection efforts in Illinois and Indiana to ensure every eligible voter can fairly and safely cast their ballot.
2024
In 2024, we conducted our nonpartisan Election Protection effort during the Illinois and Indiana Primary Election cycles and the November 5th General Election, mobilizing call center volunteers who answered thousands of Illinois and Indiana voters’ calls to the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline.
In addition to running the hotline, our team also deployed field volunteers who assisted voters across polling places in Chicago and six Illinois suburban counties. As part of this effort, we partnered with Count US Indiana to hold our first legal field program in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We also conducted nonpartisan voter protection for eligible voters in Cook County Jail, Will County Adult Detention Facility, and Lake County Adult Corrections Facility in Illinois.
Election Protection is truly a people-powered initiative. We are grateful for our continued collaboration with all of our community partners and pro bono partners, including Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Taft Law.
