{"id":73921,"date":"2020-10-20T09:39:33","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T13:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&p=73921"},"modified":"2022-07-26T12:31:58","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T16:31:58","slug":"don-calloway-the-fight-for-fair-elections","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2020\/don-calloway-the-fight-for-fair-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fight for Fair Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Fight for Fair Elections\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Don Calloway, founder of the National Voter Protection Action Fund, combats voter suppression at the polls and through policy.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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October 20, 2020<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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  • Lauren Eckenroth<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    At any other time, Don Calloway (\u201905) would spend the months before a national election traveling around the country reviewing voter protection plans with grassroots organizations, ACLU chapter directors, community groups, and others.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWhat is [this plan] trying to do? How is this going to help? How does this work with local election rules in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, or Atlanta?\u201d he asks. \u201cAnd what can we do to make sure this plan is as effective as possible, and that people have access to the franchise?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The COVID-19 pandemic has altered his schedule somewhat, but as founder of the National Voter Protection Action Fund (NVPAF), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works at the state and local level to combat voter suppression and expand access to the ballot box, Calloway still has plenty to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Twofold Strategy for Voter Protection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Founded in 2018, the NVPAF\u2019s strategy is twofold: In election years, they work with established organizations as well as grassroots groups planning voter protection activities. They target states with a history of voter suppression and with upcoming contested elections that may trigger suppression activity. For the 2020 election cycle, the organization has homed in on Georgia, Missouri, and Wisconsin. They consult on voter protection plans and offer grants fueled by microfunding campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIf folks are organizing rides to the polls, training poll watchers, or even buying snacks for people who are standing in line for four or five hours waiting to vote, we are with them and want to give these people grants,\u201d he says. \u201cAnything that\u2019s going on to tear down barriers to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While changes to voting procedures\u2014many implemented in the name of public health (sometimes with dubious justifications and inequitable consequences<\/a>)\u2014have prompted hundreds of lawsuits across the country<\/a>, that advocacy, which plays out through federal courts, is beyond the scope of the NVPAF. \u201cWe are funding election protection plans and working on model bills for state voting rights policy,\u201d Calloway says. \u201cThere are other organizations, the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, that are great at that, and we leave it to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In off-cycle years, Calloway works with state legislatures, city and county councils, and third-party organizations to promote voter protection policies that will expand or create early voting periods, defeat voter ID requirements, declare Election Day a holiday, and implement county-wide balloting initiatives so residents can vote at any polling place in their area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n