These volunteers are pushing back
-
- President Trump has undertaken a sweeping effort to exert control over and cast doubt on U.S. elections.
asserted
Trump → push → elections
- Election protection organizers emphasize that the goal is to ensure every voter casts their vote and the person who gets the most votes is declared the winner — regardless of political party.
asserted
who → emphasize → party
At balloon-adorned tables in red, white and blue, a handful of voters inside a church gymnasium listened as Medina Moore explained what to do if federal agents show up at the polls.
asserted
agents → adorn → polls
Call a hotline, she told volunteers, where attorneys will be ready to respond.
asserted
attorneys → call → volunteers
Take videos, report what you see and remove yourself from any situation that becomes intense, she advised.
asserted
she → take → situation
It was one of Moore’s final poll monitor trainings in the Phoenix area before election day, preparing a few new “peacekeepers” to join the ranks of about 200 she has recruited from local faith groups in the Phoenix area to greet voters, answer questions and keep an eye out for issues at voting sites on Tuesday.
asserted
she → prepare → Tuesday
“It feels very urgent this year,” said Moore, the voting rights organizer for the Arizona Faith Network, a coalition of religious groups.
asserted
Moore → feel → groups
“We’re in an era of information overload.
asserted
We → ’re → overload
Being able to educate voters on what’s true and what’s not is very important.”
asserted
what → educate → voters
As lawyers nationwide prepare defenses against possible election interference by the Trump administration and election officials train for worst-case scenarios, ordinary citizens across the country are also readying to help.
asserted
citizens → prepare → country
Through nonpartisan groups, parents are training to be poll monitors, law students are staffing legal hotlines, veterans are holding voting events and business owners are signing pledges to back local election officials.
asserted
owners → train → officials
The grassroots efforts, underpinned by various voting and democracy nonprofits, amount to a striking push by American voters to help uphold the nation’s election system in the face of possible threats from its own government.
asserted
efforts → underpin → government
More than 21,000 people nationwide have been trained as nonpartisan poll monitors through the Election Protection coalition, the program that Moore used, along with thousands of others through other nonprofit and partisan efforts.
asserted
Moore → train → efforts
A sprawling election protection effort on the left that is expected to deploy tens of thousands of monitors will be met by the largest-ever monitoring program by the Justice Department and still more observers from Republican-aligned groups.
asserted
that → sprawl → groups
The effort is aimed at helping ensure voter turnout at a time when Trump’s rhetoric has eroded public trust in the system and many GOP-led states have enacted new ballot rules for voters to navigate.
asserted
voters → aim → rules
Worry among voters about whether their ballots will be counted has accelerated, according to organizers; in a recent AP-NORC poll, just under half of American voters expressed confidence that midterm votes will be counted accurately.
uncertain
votes → count → confidence
“People who vote occasionally or it’s their first time voting or they haven’t voted in a while, they all have questions on ‘If I vote, will my vote count?’” said Rebekah Caruthers, president of the Fair Elections Center, a nonpartisan voting rights group that is working with college students to monitor voting on campuses.
asserted
that → vote → campuses
The best way to combat those fears, she said, is for as many people as possible to “show up and exercise their right.”
asserted
people → combat → right
Since returning to office, Trump has undertaken a sweeping effort to exert control over and cast doubt on U.S. elections, and the administration has intensified its efforts as the midterms draw closer.
asserted
midterms → return → efforts
In recent days, the Justice Department has sued California, arrested residents and threatened to prosecute election officials over an unsubstantiated government claim of 20,000 “likely noncitizen” voters; moved to block certification of Alaska’s election results if the Republican candidate for Senate there loses narrowly; and began notifying counties of its plan to send federal monitors to polling places in every state.
uncertain
candidate → sue → state
“Be careful of the voter fraud,” Trump said at a Texas rally Tuesday.
asserted
Trump → say → rally
“We’re going to watch that voter fraud.”
asserted
We → go → fraud
This week, Trump offered $1 million to anyone who reports voter fraud that leads to a conviction, the latest in a string of incentives he has floated related to the midterms and another suggestion of rampant election fraud.
asserted
he → offer → fraud
U.S. Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche last week said the Justice Department did not intend to interfere with elections.
asserted
Department → say → elections
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) committed to a peaceful transfer of power if Democrats win a majority, saying, “We’re going to follow the Constitution,” but predicted there would be no transfer because Republicans would win the majority.
asserted
Republicans → commit → majority
Trump told reporters Tuesday that he would respect the election results “if they’re honest elections.”
asserted
they → tell → results
Preparations by lawyers, nonprofits and Democratic lawmakers to anticipate how the Trump administration could try to interfere with the midterms have been underway for months.
uncertain
administration → anticipate → months
Courts have already blocked many of the administration’s steps, including attempts to access state voter rolls, restrict voting by mail and demand states change some election rules.
asserted
states → block → rules
The grassroots effort has grown out of existing programs — the Election Protection coalition has been operating since 2000 — but interest from volunteers is particularly high this year, organizers from several groups said.
asserted
organizers → grow → groups
“Voters are responding to the moment that we’re in right now,” said Saige Draeger, a senior policy associate at Verified Voting, a nonprofit that advises states on the use of voting technology and is part of the Election Protection coalition.
asserted
that → respond → coalition
“I think they feel like it’s incumbent upon everybody to make sure this election goes smoothly.
asserted
election → think → everybody
In Arizona, an epicenter of Republican efforts to deny the 2020 election results, partisan tensions have long been high, and residents cite concerns about potential political violence surrounding the election.
asserted
residents → deny → election
Now, election denialism is on the ballot: The Republican nominees for governor, secretary of state and attorney general each played a role in Trump’s denial of the 2020 results.
asserted
nominees → play → results
Alex Kolodin, the Republican candidate for secretary of state, filed lawsuits challenging the 2020 election results.
asserted
Kolodin → file → results
The outcome of the race could be consequential for the 2028 election, because secretaries of state play a key role in certifying their states’ results, and presidential elections can come down to a single swing state.
uncertain
elections → play → state
Along with the Arizona race, those in Nevada, Michigan and Georgia are being closely watched by pro-democracy groups.
asserted
those → watch → groups
On street corners, the campaign signs for Kolodin and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, the Democratic incumbent, duel: “Protect every vote,” say Kolodin’s.
asserted
signs → duel → Kolodin
“Protect your vote,” Fontes’ read.
asserted
Fontes → protect → vote
Organizers focused on election protection efforts stress that the goal is to ensure every voter casts their vote and the person who gets the most votes is declared the winner — all regardless of political party.
asserted
who → focus → party
“With the level of polarization that we have nationally right now, people might mistake and think that calling for a free, fair, democratic election is somehow partisan,” said Hardy Merriman, an organizer with the Hold the Line project, which has recruited about 650 volunteers to ask their local leaders to sign on to a pledge affirming they back free and fair elections.
uncertain
they → have → elections
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
