AABA at the Polls: Protecting Voters’ Rights in the 2018 Elections in California
In November 2018, AABA members can help protect the vote right here in California. Volunteer with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus (ALC) to monitor the polls for voter harassment and disenfranchisement, access for voters with disabilities, and language access for limited English-proficient speakers.
A training is mandatory for all poll monitoring volunteers.
Date: Wednesday, October 17
Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm (dinner starts at 6:00pm; training starts at 6:30pm)
Location: Asian Law Caucus (ALC), 55 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94111
RSVP to the training here.
If you are interested in poll monitoring, please also fill out the ALC google form at this link.
Background
In 2016, ALC sent almost 600 volunteers to ~1300 polling places across California. ALC volunteers encountered and fixed hundreds of issues that would have imperiled access to the ballot.
ALC's findings from 2016 (e.g. 25% of translated ballots required by state law were missing on Election Day) led to the passage of the strongest state-level language access law in the nation, AB 918, in 2017.
This November, ALC will be monitoring at the polls for the all the same things we monitored for in 2016, plus monitoring for proper implementation of AB 918. For us to be successful, we need your help.
You need no experience! Volunteers are fully trained and equipped with a variety of resources. Organized in teams of two, volunteers will visit five polling places over the course of approximately four hours on the day of the election. Volunteers will fill out a checklist for each polling place visited and report problems through established procedures. Travel time can be substantial -- the need is greatest in the Central Valley. Please prepare for travel time of up to 90 min each way (travel time may be far less). ALC works with volunteers to make sure their polling place assignments and related travel work for them.
This event is co-sponsored by the Civil Rights Committee of the Asian American Bar Association of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Any questions can be directed to Jonathan Stein at jonathans@advancingjustice-alc.org.
