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Protecting Virginia Voters
ELECTION PROTECTION
Building the statewide infrastructure that helps Virginians participate in our democracy.
VCET brings together community organizations, legal partners, volunteers, and resources to identify barriers, support voters, and ensure every eligible Virginian can make their voice heard.
Protecting the vote takes infrastructure.
WHAT VCET MAKES POSSIBLE
Bring community organizations, legal partners, volunteers, and national partners into coordinated statewide strategy.
CONNECT
Share information, deploy resources, identify emerging challenges, and align response across regions.
COORDINATE
Turn local information into rapid statewide action when voters encounter barriers.
RESPOND
No single organization can protect voters statewide. The strength is in the network.
VCET serves as the coordinating hub for Virginia's nonpartisan Election Protection work, bringing partners, volunteers, legal expertise, communications, and resources together into a statewide system.
2025 ELECTION PROTECTION IMPACT
504
voters received real-time support through the Election Protection hotline
99
precincts reached statewide
45+
legal advocates trained and deployed, supported through partnerships with law schools, universities, and Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)
$800K
distributed to partner organizations to strengthen Election Protection outreach since 2019
Virginia saw the highest utilization of the Election Protection hotline in a recent non-presidential election year. Hotline calls increased nearly 74% compared with 2023. VCET’s voter guide was available in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Swahili, helping partners connect more Virginians with reliable voting information.
HOW ELECTION PROTECTION WORKS
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VCET convenes Election Protection partners throughout the year to share information, align strategy, prepare for emerging challenges, and coordinate responses across organizations and regions. This year-round infrastructure allows partners to identify patterns, escalate issues, and respond collectively when barriers to voting emerge.
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VCET recruits, trains, and deploys Voter Advocates during early voting and on Election Day. Using election data, demographic indicators, previous hotline activity, and partner intelligence, advocates are strategically deployed to priority polling locations to provide voter support, monitor conditions, and report issues in real time. A centralized system allows information from polling locations to be quickly shared, assessed, and escalated when additional support is needed.
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VCET’s Legal Advocate Program, co-led by Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, brings attorneys, law students, and other legal professionals into Virginia’s Election Protection infrastructure. Advocates are trained and deployed to identify, document, and help resolve voting issues in real time, while building a long-term pipeline of legal expertise for future election cycles.
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The nonpartisan 866-OUR-VOTE hotline connects Virginians with reliable, real-time voting assistance. VCET works with partners to promote the hotline and integrate information from voter calls into the broader Election Protection network, helping identify emerging issues and coordinate response where it is needed most.
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VCET invests directly in trusted community organizations to expand the reach of Election Protection resources. In 2025, VCET distributed $49,000 to eight partner organizations to support localized outreach, including ethnic radio, community media, and grassroots engagement that connects voters with reliable information and assistance.
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Election Protection connects field monitoring, hotline intelligence, legal expertise, communications, and partner coordination into a real-time response system. When emerging issues or patterns are identified, VCET helps partners quickly share information, assess needs and coordinate resources across the network.
Building for what comes next.
BUILDING FOR 2026 AND BEYOND
Election Protection is year-round work. In 2026, VCET will continue to strengthen statewide coordination, expand legal and volunteer capacity, increase multilingual outreach, and deepen Election Protection coverage in communities that have historically had fewer resources.
Expand Voter Advocate and Election Protection coverage across 150 priority precincts, focusing resources where stronger voter support is needed.
Expand Coverage
Build a pipeline of 120 trained legal advocates through partnerships with law schools, attorneys, and civil rights organizations; over 100% growth from 2025.
Grow Legal Capacity
Recruit more bilingual volunteers, expand multilingual resources and invest in trusted organizations reaching communities with fewer Election Protection resources.
Community Reach
STRONGER TOGETHER
Strong Election Protection requires a strong statewide network.
For voters
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For partners & funders
Learn more about our work or invest in Election Protection