When I received an email inviting me to volunteer as a poll monitor, I felt uncertain. I had just started at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and wasn’t sure what to expect. However, I gathered the courage to step into unfamiliar territory because I grew up understanding the vital role of voting, a value instilled in me long before I could even see over the ballot box.
As a child, I vividly remember accompanying my parents to vote. It was treated as a momentous occasion—so much so that we dressed up for it. In the booth, hidden behind the privacy curtain, I had to stand on a stool just to see the ballot. I proudly wore my “I Voted” sticker to school, though I was too young to grasp the importance of the candidates or their policies. What I did know, however, was that voting mattered, and it was something I was expected to do whenever I had the chance.
Monitoring polling sites involves a straightforward routine: driving to assigned locations, documenting observations, and identifying issues like improper electioneering, voter intimidation, accessibility challenges, or long lines. Through LDF’s Black Voters on the Rise program, our team of 119 volunteers in Alabama covered 23 counties during the election. They submitted 758 reports—the highest number since the program’s inception—highlighting efforts to protect Black voters’ rights across Congressional Districts 2 and 7 and in Madison County.
