Protecting Elections

SCSJ focuses on expanding access to the ballot box by focusing on how elections are run. We build relationships with county and state community partners, as well as boards of elections staff and officials, to advance voting rights and civic participation in real, concrete ways. Protecting against disenfranchisement in election administration is becoming more critical to ensure voting conditions encourage, rather than discourage, participation. We challenge “administrative disenfranchisement” by showing that problems in election administration are not harmless errors but serious barriers to democracy and threats to voting rights. For example:  

• Absentee mail ballots are rejected at high rates for unclear reasons and disproportionately impact voters of color.  
• Provisional ballots — which risk the ballot not being counted — are also disproportionately offered to voters of color, often unnecessarily or for administrative convenience.  
• Voter ID requirements are applied inconsistently and often inaccurately.  

These and other administrative errors disqualify thousands of voters each election cycle. Problems in the implementation of policies add up quickly.  They can impact both vote counts and voters’ willingness to return to the polls just as much as explicitly anti-voter laws. 

We advocate for pro-voter changes in election administration through legal advocacy. We submit letters and give presentations to identify problems, provide specific data, clarify legal standards, and offer potential solutions to county boards of election. We offer comments on proposed rule changes at state boards of election. In addition, we monitor the actions of county boards of election to ensure proper implementation of and compliance with state law and administrative rules. We prioritize building relationships with state and local officials to support them in being pro-voter in the current environment. If these efforts are unsuccessful, we take further legal action, including litigation. Our advocacy efforts have secured numerous pro-voter decisions on issues like improved early voting access, increased elections funding, better rules for implementing NC’s voter ID law, and the prevention of eligible votes from being discounted. 

Our work depends on community involvement, and our partners need strong support for their education, advocacy, and communications efforts. We provide unmatched, data-driven resources that help them tell the story and shift the narrative on voting rights. This support strengthens their efforts around voter registration, get-out-the-vote, election monitoring, and post-election canvassing. Through education, trainings, and toolkits, we ensure our partners’ volunteers are adequately prepared to be election monitors and pro-voter advocates. We share legal expertise, so partners have accurate frameworks for stronger advocacy, and we use our legal advocacy and investigation to help them adapt voter registration, education, and mobilization programs to changing election rules. We occasionally support targeted direct voter outreach, particularly when it maximizes the benefits of our issue and legal advocacy efforts.