Election Readiness Resources

Volunteer to Defend the People:

• Sign up to be on call for movement defenders. Individuals and organizations need support to minimize risks or defend themselves from politically motivated attacks. Support frontline responses to during the midterm election season and beyond.

Host an Election Defense Training in Your Community: 

• Election Defense Scenarios: How We Keep Their Hands Off Our Vote: this resource by the Freedom Trainers is a field guide for protecting democracy. The guide walks readers through eighteen detailed scenarios — from voter roll purges and redistricting attacks to armed intimidation at polling places and post-election certification battles — giving organizers, poll workers, community leaders, and everyday citizens the knowledge they need before a crisis hits. Each scenario draws on real historical examples from Georgia to Belarus to Tuskegee, showing not just how threats unfold, but how ordinary people have successfully pushed back. 

• Democracy Defense as Offense Grassroots Training: a companion to the Act Free to Be Free memo, this training is a way for community members to build shared analysis of the election threat, rehearse scenario-based responses, and join concrete teams and commitments for election defense.

Sign up as a Legal Observer, poll worker or count watcher to ensure the correct processes are followed every step of the way so authoritarians can’t challenge the outcomes. 

• Power to the Polls: a first-of-its-kind, nonpartisan initiative to recruit the next generation of poll workers to ensure safe and fair elections for all voters — and the national leader in poll worker recruitment.

Connect with Groups Like Lawyers for Good Government, We the Action, Common Cause and the Democracy Rising Collaborative to plug into election protection work remotely or on the ground, particularly in battleground states like Texas, Virginia, Michigan and Florida.

• We The Action’s Democracy Legal Defense Network connects lawyers with nonprofits to provide support defending democracy, from educating voters on their rights at the polls and protecting voting rights to fighting voter suppression tactics and supporting local election officials. Lawyers of all ages, experience levels, backgrounds, locations, and expertise can volunteer to get involved in election protection work in their communities and across the country. You can view current opportunities here.

• Lawyers for Good Government’s 2026 Midterm Election Lawyer Mobilization Hub mobilizes lawyers to ensure that all levels of government — federal, state, and local— promote equal justice under the law and uphold civil and human rights. In advance of the midterms hey are seeking lawyers to combat dis/misinformation, serve as frontline legal monitors and advocates in battleground states and more. You can peruse projects on their website or fill out a brief survey to be matched to opportunities.

• Common Cause leads the 2026 Election Protection program, the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter protection effort, mobilizing thousands of trained volunteers and experts across the country to help voters navigate the voting process and cast their ballots with confidence.

Support the Election Officials we are Counting on for a Free and Democratic Election.

• Research your local elections process to figure out who’s responsible, every step of the way.

• Join the Election Official Legal Defense Network which connects pro bono attorneys to election officials in need of advice or assistance. 

Host a Party at the Polls to Combat the Climate of Fear Authoritarians are Working to Create. 

• When We All Vote: Party at the Polls: a national, nonpartisan initiative where young people — especially Black and Brown voters ages 18–34 — not only participate in our democracy, but shape it, increasing voter turnout and bringing communities together through celebration.

• Project Halo brings veterans, faith leaders, legal professionals, and other trusted community leaders to create a welcoming, celebratory, nonpartisan presence around elections. Project Halo offers opportunities to volunteer in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Sign up to get involved here.

Write an Op-ed or Speak out in Your Local Outlet. Lawyers can serve as credible public messengers who can help people understand the elections process, inoculate folks from disinformation and lift up the importance of voting as an act of resistance.

Organizations can Join the Election Safeguards Response Network, a robust infrastructure with state-based election defense tables around the country. 

• ESRN is a non-partisan coalition designed to prevent election sabotage and effectively respond to election crises. Founded in 2022, the network coordinates hundreds of organizations to protect the integrity of the democratic process. ESRN has a monthly partner briefing series on election-related issues, regularly distributes information about relevant trainings and calls to actions from other organizations, and maintains a robust Resource Hub available to all members. To join, fill out the ESRN New Partner Intake Questionnaire here, and sign up for monthly election briefings here. You can also learn about the “Hands Off Our Votes” campaign and sign up to participate here.