Guidance /
The Right to Vote Is Protected from Intimidation & Harassment
- Federal law makes it a crime to intimidate, harass, or deceive voters at home or the polls
- State law often separately prohibits voter intimidation and harassment
Spotting Voter Intimidation
Groups and individuals may try to
- Threaten voters for exercising their right to vote
- Threaten volunteers for registering people to vote
- Falsely identify themselves as election officials
- Aggressively ask about someone’s voting record
- Demand validity of someone’s registration status
- Accuse volunteers or voters of committing voter fraud
- Spread misinformation about how personal information is used
- Make phone calls warning voters not to vote
- Act deceptively to make voters fear voting
Know Your Rights
You may
- Request identification from alleged election officials
- Ask a poll monitor to double-check their registration list
- Document incidents thoroughly using your phone (outside the polling place) or by taking notes
- Avoid engaging with groups or individuals employing intimidation
- If a voter’s registration is still denied, they can offer an affidavit or cast a provisional ballot
Report
Report incidents of voter intimidation to your local election officials, Election Protection (866-OUR-VOTE), and your local and/or state League leaders. Check out our guide for setting up your rapid response network here.
LWVUS has a system in place to ensure reports of pervasive voter intimidation are elevated and receive appropriate responses. This includes potential communications and legal responses.