Our campaign is now complete. 37 supporters helped us raise US$19,000.00
Visit the charity's profileElection workers face increasing risks of reprisal and abuse. The Defending Democracy initiative educates the public on the important role that election workers play in our democratic process and promotes the public's trust in our electoral process.
ABA Giving Day 2022 · 29 September 2022 to 31 December 2022 ·
Closed 14/11/2022
The campaign has now expired but it's not too late to support this charity.
Visit the charity's profileGenerous gifts and pledges are helping the Section achieve its goal! Please contact the FJE (312-988-5420) to join others planning to remit their donation via Donor Advised Fund, IRA, or Stock. Thank you!
The Section kicked off its programming at the 2022 ABA Annual Meeting and was privileged to have Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson deliver the keynote address at the Jefferson Fordham Awards Luncheon. Secretary Benson's poignant words and firsthand experiences brought home the need for lawyers and the legal community to become involved in defending our democracy.
Michigan's elections systems are decentralized, and more than 1,600 township, city and county clerks administer them across the state. They, like so many local government officials, are often unsung heroes, making government work for their communities, and in the case of elections, serving as the backbone of American democracy. They are professionals who put country over party to ensure that every eligible citizen is able to cast their vote and have their vote counted. - Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State
In current times we see a disturbing trend to excoriate and threaten the physical safety of election administrators and their families if the outcome of an election does not have a desired result. Recently, the Brennan Center for Justice and the Pew Charitable Trusts have published reports and findings that these threats are also impacting the ability of our elections to run smoothly due to attrition resulting from these threats and verbal abuse. Unfounded attacks on our election administrators only serve to denigrate and cast aspersions on the integrity of our electoral process and the defending Democracy Initiative will help ensure this does not continue.
They [these threats] are dangerous for our democracy, likely to lead to violence, and they are pushing seasoned election officials with decades of knowledge out of the field. - Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State
Commissioner William J. Kresse of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners shares a ballot adjudication guide at a tour of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners during the 2022 Annual Meeting:
At our most recent tour of the Multnomah County Elections Division, at our 2022 Fall Meeting, one of our participants remarked that they are sold on the security of mail ballots after seeing the procedures and safeguards used in Multnomah County, Oregon. Defending Democracy will use these tours to gather information about the electoral process in various states and localities and share them to provide transparency about and to bolster public confidence in our democratic process.
1) educate the public about the important role that election workers play in ensuring that our voting process works best for all our citizens when public safety can be ensured;
2) promote an understanding that the average election worker is non-partisan when carrying out their work;
3) promote the integrity of and public trust in our electoral process; and
4) ensure adequate protection and a sense of security for election workers who are on the frontlines of our democracy.
View the Birds-eye Vantage Point of Defending Democracy (CLE Program) to learn how you can help defend our democracy.
Visit the Defending Democracy webpage to stay up-to-date on the initiative's progress on educating the public about the necessary and important role of election workers in our democratic process.
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