Making Every Vote Count

VoPro Pros fights voter suppression, one call at a time. You can help.

By Steve Schear

Being a hotline agent, I found my niche in political work.  On the hotline, you get 20 calls a day. Each person you talk to, you figure out how to help them vote, so you really feel like you have an impact on the ultimate outcome. 

— Duncan Watry, voter protection volunteer

Most organizers and activists focus on mobilizing voters to vote our way. Yet there’s another kind of volunteer work that is not so well known, but extremely important: protecting people’s ability to vote and to have their votes counted. 

In many battleground states, Republican state legislatures and election officials are using unscrupulous tactics to suppress the vote. Since January 2021, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, GOP activists have filed nearly a half million voter challenges nationwide. Volunteers working with VoPro Pros are intent on defeating GOP voter suppression.

There are many ways in which voters become “inactive” and have their votes challenged. Elaine Leitner is one of the leaders of VoPro Pros. “In Georgia,” says Leitner, “if you haven’t voted or had contact with the election system in five years, you become inactive if you don’t return a postcard.” And this year, the Georgia Republican state legislature passed a law that allows a single person to challenge an unlimited number of voters in their county. That creates a huge need for volunteers to help people make their votes count.

Voter protection volunteers are needed to:

 — Contact voters to correct registration issues ahead of election time, so they won’t be challenged or required to cure a ballot.

 — Answer voter hotlines, as Watry is doing, to help voters with all aspects of voting.

— Gather information from local and state election officials to facilitate the stream of information to voters. For example, a VPP volunteer might find out where the drop boxes are to let hotlines and local activist groups know.

 —  Research the backgrounds of election officials to know which are likely to cause problems.

 — Recruit poll watchers to identify and address issues arising at the polls.

— Serve in state party “boiler rooms,” which report issues at the polls to be addressed as needed.

— Help voters correct problems with ballots after they vote, so-called vote “curing.”

— Provide administrative help to voter protection groups and their partners.

Signing Up for VoPro Pros:

Each day during this election season, in coordination with the Harris-Walz campaign, VPP will be making highly impactful voter protection calls in battleground states and districts. You can sign up here:

VPP is an online, all volunteer group that provides great training and work that suits a person’s skills and interests.  If you want to get involved year-round, consider joining VoPro Pros.

Advantages to Voter Protection Work

The work is highly impactful when measured by votes gained per hour. In most cases, you are directly helping someone who wants to vote. In some elections, vote curing has been the difference between winning and losing, because the number of votes cured exceeded the margin of difference. Since this year’s election margins may be razor thin in some swing states, voter protection work could be the deciding factor.   

Voter protection work is an especially good fit for people reluctant to engage in canvassing and phone banking. For many, it is much easier to talk to strangers if you are offering a helping hand. “You’re not trying to get somebody to vote who may or may not ever vote,” says Leitner. “These are people who actually cast a ballot, or want to cast a ballot, and don’t know how to do it, or have done it wrong in the past. It’s an important group to capture because they want to vote.”

And the work can be immediately rewarding. Because volunteers are calling people who want to vote, “they are so appreciative,” says Leitner.

The VoProPros Weren’t Always Pros. . .

VoProPros began with volunteers doing voter protection work in Virginia and North Carolina in 2020.  Many volunteers then moved on to the January 2021 Georgia U.S. Senate run-off where they helped Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win, giving Dems control of the Senate.

After the run-off, Leitner remembered, volunteers talked among themselves. “Hey, we’re knowledgeable,” we said. “We’re experienced.  It’s a shame to let all of this experience go.  So, a group of us led by Sonya Murray stayed in touch and VoPro Pros started.”

During the 2022 election, Leitner continued, “we started partnering with different Democratic state parties and non-profits, becoming a force that helped design, implement, consult, and then recruit and staff voter protection efforts.”

A Leader in Voter Protection

Along with the Harris campaign, VPP partners with the DNC, the DCCC, state and local Dem parties, Fair Fight, Swing Blue Alliance and other grassroots organizations. Since January, its ranks have grown from 1,400 to over 2,400 members. About 100 new people are signing up each month.

VPP Volunteers Make a Difference Where It Matters Most

Other than poll watching, most voter protection work can be done remotely. VoProPro strategically deploys volunteers to help where most needed, primarily in battleground states where Democratic parties need assistance.

As early voting accelerates, the need for voter protection volunteers will expand exponentially. “Once the ballots are mailed, then we’re really off and running,” says Leitner. “From mid-October through whenever the curing is done is going to be the really big push.”

VoProPros offers political work that is almost guaranteed to have a real impact.   To sign up, click here.  For more information, contact VPP at info@vopropros.