Election Day Hotline
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Julie E. Justicz | Chief Strategy Officer
jjusticz@clccrul.org; 708-567-9471
Common Cause Indiana
Julia Vaughn, Policy Director
jvaughn@commoncause.org; 317-432-3264
May 2, 2022—During the Indiana primary election on May 3, legal volunteers will staff a non-partisan call center to answer urgent questions and problems that voters may encounter at the polls. Legal professionals trained by Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law will answer calls from voters to the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline between 6:00am and 8:00pm Eastern Time using a call center hosted by Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Chicago Lawyers’ Committee and national Lawyers’ Committee will collaborate with Common Cause Indiana, Indiana State Conference of the NAACP, and Count US Indiana.
The voting process can be confusing, with voters facing potential challenges such as voter I.D. requirements, early registration deadlines, limited polling places, early poll closings, intimidation, unclear rules for absentee ballots, inaccessible polling places, and long lines.
Voters can contact 866-OUR-VOTE with questions or if they encounter problems when seeking to cast their ballots. The following phone lines are also available to voters:
888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682) – Spanish language hotline
888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683) – Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu and Tagalog hotline
844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287) – Arabic language hotline
“Our hotline will be open for calls from voters who need assistance for any issue they face at their polling place," says Senior Counsel Ami Gandhi of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee, who leads the local Election Protection program for Illinois and Indiana. "We are here to support voters and ensure that the right to vote is protected for every citizen. We also want to thank those poll workers and officials who are assisting them."
“More and more Indiana counties are eliminating precinct-based polling locations and reducing the overall number of polling places that are open on election day,” says Chicago Lawyers’ Committee Program Counsel Cliff Helm, an attorney with the voting rights team. “This makes voting more difficult for many in Indiana, but communities that face historic barriers to voting, such as communities of color and people with disabilities, are disproportionately harmed by unequal access to the ballot box,” says Helm.
“From restrictive voter ID laws to inaccessible polling places, too many Hoosiers will face challenges when they attempt to exercise their right to vote in the primary election,” says Julia Vaughn, Policy Director for Common Cause Indiana, which is leading the field program for Election Protection in Indiana. “Common Cause Indiana is proud to work with our partners on the Election Protection Project because our efforts will provide vital information and advocacy to ensure all eligible voters are able to cast their ballot.”
The 866-OUR-VOTE hotline is coordinated by Election Protection, the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan voter protection coalition. Election Protection volunteers are trained to help voters who encounter barriers such as long lines and machine breakdowns, improper requests for ID, intimidation and electioneering, registration hurdles, or language or accessibility issues.
Learn more about our program at www.clccrul.org/election