Protecting Democracy
Democracy thrives when every voter, especially those from marginalized communities, can freely cast their ballot.
In 2024, Virginians faced unprecedented challenges, from misinformation targeting BIPOC voters to administrative barriers limiting access. In response, VCET expanded election protection efforts to ensure Virginians had the support they needed to vote.
Our Election Protection Program mobilized a record number of volunteers and helped more Virginians vote than ever before. Our partners fanned out across the state, from rural to urban areas, and promoted the multi-lingual, statewide voter protection hotline, which received an increased number of requests for support and incident reports.
To provide real-time assistance, we launched the Legal Advocate Program, in partnership with law schools to train students, lawyers, and legal professionals to assist voters directly, not just observe, at polling places.
SPOTLIGHT:
EXECUTIVE ORDER 35
On August 7, 2024, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 35, codifying his administration's alleged election security procedures. The order emphasizes the use of 100% paper ballots, rigorous testing of counting machines, and daily maintenance of voter rolls to remove voters under the state assumption that they were “declared noncitizens”. Approximately 6,000 individuals were removed as a result of EO35 with the 90 day “quiet period” under the federal National Voter Registration Act.
In the weeks following, VCET immediately mobilized to counteract its harmful effects, ensuring that impacted communities had the resources and legal support necessary to cast their provisional ballots and exercise their right to vote. Along with counsel from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Campaign Legal Center, Advancement Project, and Protecting Democracy, we identified and contacted 6,000 individuals so they could correct their status.
The lawsuit we supported, Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights v. Beals, eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which set aside the pause on enforcement put in place by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.