Election Adminstration Issues In Virginia

Advancement Project Senior Attorney Elizabeth Westfall Offers Strategies To Protect Voters And Improve Election Adminstration Issues In Virginia

Yesterday, Advancement Project Senior Attorney Elizabeth Westfall joined other voting rights experts during a panel discussion on how Virginia election administrators can avoid unnecessary, bureaucratic pitfalls in advance of the 2010 election cycle. The panel, “Election Protection Review: A Case Study of Virginia in 2008 and Preparing for 2010,” was presented by the Washington D.C. Lawyer Chapter along with the George Mason University School of Law Student chapter of the American Constitution Society. It was held Thursday, March 5 at the George Mason School of Law in Arlington, Va.

In her initial comments, Westfall explained the role of Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization, in its efforts to help identify and remove barriers to voter registration and voting, particularly in communities of color and low-income communities. “In 2008, Advancement Project worked in nine battleground states, including Virginia, where there was significant voter registration and populations of voters of color,” said Westfall. “Advancement Project focused its voter protection efforts in Virginia on seven jurisdictions—Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, and Virginia Beach.”

Westfall commented on Virginia’s lack of preparedness during the 2008 election cycle. With an unprecedented number of voter registration applications, the Commonwealth became the center of national attention. “As it became clear that the race for the presidency might hinge upon Virginia’s electoral votes, we became extremely concerned that Virginia was unprepared for voter turnout,” continued Westfall. “Based on analysis of public records, we concluded that in several of the jurisdictions in Virginia that we studied, voting equipment and poll workers were either misallocated or simply insufficient to accommodate all voters. Unfortunately, on Election Day, our predictions were realized in many precincts with predominantly minority voters, where voters were forced to endure long lines to cast their ballot.”

To help address administration issues in future election years, Westfall explained that Advancement Project is focusing on the following principal priorities for 2009 and beyond:

Work with election official and advocates to simplify Virginia’s complicated voter registration form that appears to be confusing applicants and causing many thousands to submit incomplete forms.

Investigate voter registration in select counties to determine whether voter registration applications are being properly processed by local election officials.

Investigate possible barriers to voter registration through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

Work with the ACLU of Virginia to reduce barriers to voting for persons with felony convictions.

Improve poll worker training, including the administration of provisional ballots to make sure that they are appropriately distributed to voters, but are only used as a ballot of last resort.

Continue to work through current Advancement Project voter protection activities to investigate and undercover barriers to voting.

Westfall is also the deputy director of Advancement Project’s Voter Protection Program, which seeks to address a bedrock racial justice issue: expanding the active electorate. The program focuses on increasing democratic participation in low-income and minority communities by investigating obstacles to voter participation and providing mechanisms for removing those obstacles, generating reform efforts that seek to expand opportunities for democratic participation, building support for a more transformational solution for re-enfranchising formerly incarcerated people, and facilitating alliances among multi-racial groups.

An experienced civil rights lawyer, Westfall litigates voting rights cases on behalf of voter registration organizations and individual voters, including Florida State Conference of NAACP v. Browning (challenging Florida’s “no-match, no-vote” statute) and League of Women Voters v. Browning (challenging Florida’s restrictions on non-partisan voter registration organizations). She also engages in advocacy with election officials on various voter registration and other election administration issues.

Other “Election Protection Review” panelists included Alex Blakemore, founding member, Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia; Jonah H. Goldman, director, National Campaign for Fair Elections, Voting Rights Project, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and Rokey W. Suleman II, general registrar, Fairfax County Office of Elections. The panel was moderated by Ami Sanchez, co-chair, Special Projects Committee-Election Protection, ACS Washington, D.C. Lawyer Chapter.

ENDS

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