Wanted: Election Protection Volunteers

Help us protect our right to vote.

Green Party/Free Press will again be placing election observers inside the polling places for the critical November 6th election. Fair elections require vigilance. The Free Press continues to be the leader in election reporting. We held the public hearings after the 2004 election debacle, and have worked hard on election issues since. For more information: http://freepress.org/article/election-protection-2018

Election Protection Observers:

Ohio law allows election observers inside the County Board of Elections and/or local polling places if appointed by a political party 10 days in advance of the November 6th election. The Free Press, in conjunction with the Green Party, is looking for interested activists to observe and report on this election. Training and materials will be made available.

What is the job of an Election Observer? The answer is to show up, to observe, to ask questions and take notes.

County level observers: Ideally we would be able to assign ONE and only one observer in each of Ohio's counties to observe the end of day procedures at the County Board of Elections. You do not have to live in the county that you observe. The County level observer can also observe at any polling place in that county throughout the day.

Precinct level observers: Because we can appoint only one observer at the county level, additional volunteers in a county can be assigned to specific precincts. In this case, you will be assigned a handful of precincts within a reasonable distance from each other. As an precinct level observer, you would go to these precincts, announce yourself, sign in with the Precinct captain, observe and ask questions, before moving on to another precinct.

Our experience tells us that you will be looking for voters forced to vote provisionally and voters upset at not being allowed to vote. You will ask if any voting machines malfunctioned, and if so, what action was taken. Did BOE employees respond or was a representative from the company allowed to “fix” the machine?

If interested, direct questions and sign up by emailing us at colsfreepress@gmail.com

TO SIGN UP, INCLUDE YOUR FULL NAME AS IT IS LISTED ON YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION, your date of birth, and your address. In addition, would you be willing to observe in a county outside your own? Can you observe anywhere in your county or do you prefer to stay close to home?