We are sure you are aware of the many potential threats to voting access and rights here in Georgia and beyond. Everything from national voter lists and the SAVE act to putting ICE near polls seems to be in the news regularly. Vote protection volunteers are a critical part of the defense against the retraction of voting rights.
Poll watchers are a vital source of information on the ground, alerting attorneys- and others with expertise- to problems that may affect our elections. We are the “eyes and ears” of the party, enabling the attorneys and vote protection experts to solve problems efficiently.
What can you do to help? Volunteer needs include:
- Poll Watchers to cover about 13 Early Voting locations and more than 130 voting locations on Election Day. (on-demand training required; less than an hour)
- Join bipartisan volunteer teams to duplicate absentee and/or provisional ballots that cannot be read by the scanners (mostly on-the-job training, but materials are available to review ahead)
- Determine voter intent on bipartisan teams when the ballot has ambiguities in the marking and/or are not readable by the scanner (mostly on-the-job training, but materials are available to review ahead)
- Monitor election return functions at the Main Office on election night
- Monitor ballot audits and recounts
- Monitor other pre- and post- election activities as needed
Further details:
- We do not know the exact dates and times of early voting, but it will be October 12-30, including some weekend hours.
- Election Day is November 3.
- ½ Day Shifts ARE AVAILABLE. We will gratefully accept any time you can give.
- Vote review, ballot duplication, and some of the other duties not at the polling locations require a bit of flexibility since the staff cannot know for certain exactly what needs will be; these are often shorter shifts as well.
If you are able, PLEASE mark time on your calendar NOW to volunteer. Reach out to Beth Hendrickson at [email protected] or Sally Riddle at [email protected] if you have any questions or want to make sure you are on our outreach communications list for recruitment when we know our exact scheduling needs.
Background and further information on Vote Protection:
As a response to the growing concerns over proposed election changes, the Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG) set up a Voter Protection County Liaison(CL) program to build relationships with county Boards of Elections and Registration (BOER) members and the elections office staff, all of whom have critical roles in the smooth management of elections. These relationships are critical to supporting all the hard work of our candidates in their efforts to represent us.
Since 2022, Sally Riddle has been the lead Voter Protection Liaison between the DPG and Cobb County. Currently Erika Bailey, Beth Hendrickson and Mike Binns are key members of the team.
What do we do?
- Provide support to the DPG and the Coordinated Campaigns, reporting information regarding the status of election preparedness in Cobb and/or how key issues are handled in Cobb
- Attend Board of Election Meetings regularly and provide reports to the DPG.
- Give public comment at BOER meetings…and recruit other speakers (including from community partner organizations) to speak. (Example topics: the need to maintain two Sundays for each early voting period, requesting part-time staff capability on Election Day (still a need), complimenting staff on jobs well done, thanking all for their hard work, particularly after having a record 9 elections in 2025.)
- Reach out to our Board Members and/or Elections staff when we see issues during an election that may need to be addressed in order to ensure voter access….our primary focus.
- Organize to ensure that Democrats are present for key aspects of the election.
All these tasks require MANY VOLUNTEERS, both on Election Day and during Early Voting– MANY MORE VOLUNTEERS THAN WE HAVE HAD AVAILABLE in past cycles. We have some very regular stalwart volunteers (Thank you to all…you know who you are.) who have helped us, often at short notice, but we need to have additional Democrats join us in these endeavors.
Cobb County Republicans have their volunteers under their Election Integrity Program. We need to be present to maintain balance.
We cannot thank Erika Bailey enough for her tireless efforts in scheduling all these critical vote protection roles for multiple elections, starting when she was the 2nd Vice Chair of the Cobb County Democratic Party.
For the November election Beth Hendrickson will be taking over the scheduling of the volunteers. In addition, Mike, Beth, Sally and Erika often serve as “traveling” Poll Watchers during both early voting and on Election Day with permission to enter polling locations where there may be issues, and Beth has attended and spoken at multiple State Election Board Meetings…traveling to these meetings held in multiple locations around the state supporting Voter Protection issues.
The time we need you is NOW. Again, If we do not have solid vote protection programs in place, a lot of the work done by our candidates can be undermined! Please strongly consider helping – and getting the word out to others who may be interested.
