Participants gather for the ACLU’s Power & Purpose Institute, where attendees take part in group activities. (Photo courtesy of the American Civil Liberties Union)
By Riley Howell
Nonprofit Sector News
October 19, 2026
With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, the American Civil Liberties Union is investing $24.5 million in a nationwide effort to protect voting access, prepare for potential election interference and ensure ballots are counted and election results honored.
The investment, announced in June, is the organization’s largest devoted to election safeguarding during a midterm election cycle. It brings together the ACLU’s national legal and advocacy operations with ACLU affiliates across all 50 states, where staff members and volunteers are preparing to respond to voting problems before, during and after Election Day.
The initiative builds on decades of voting rights advocacy by the ACLU, which established its Voting Rights Project in 1965, the same year Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. Since then, the project has challenged discriminatory voting practices through litigation, public education and policy advocacy.
Molly McGrath, director of national democracy campaigns at the ACLU, said much of the work will take place within communities, where affiliates already operate voter education, organizing and election protection programs. The national investment is intended to expand those efforts through additional personnel, training and resources.
“A lot of the core work of election safeguarding happens on the ground where voters are at, and so we know that that is where the core programs need to run,” McGrath said.
That support includes additional organizing staff, volunteer recruitment, voter education materials and training sessions designed to help eligible voters understand their rights. Affiliates are also organizing residents to attend state and county election board meetings and participate in local election oversight.
The effort comes as the ACLU raises concerns about potential actions by President Trump’s administration that the organization believes could interfere with voting or undermine public confidence in election results.
Preparing before Election Day
The ACLU has publicly identified 25 potential election threat scenarios involving voting access, election administration and certification. These include longstanding concerns such as voter roll purges as well as potential challenges involving federal actions and the processing of election results.
McGrath said the organization developed a coordinated approach to preparing for those possibilities rather than waiting until problems arise. Its election safeguarding strategy combines litigation, advocacy, organizing and public communication, giving affiliates different ways to address threats depending on the circumstances in their states.
“We wrote a playbook to both mitigate on the front end the likelihood, impact of these scenarios, and then to be prepared to respond, to take proactive steps now, so that we can effectively respond to a scenario when it happens,” McGrath said.
As part of those preparations, the ACLU brought together representatives from more than 20 state affiliates for a multi-day summit in the spring. McGrath said participants worked on strategies and tactics intended to strengthen their election protection capabilities ahead of November.
The organization must also account for substantial differences in voting laws, election administration and political circumstances across states. McGrath compared the complexity of coordinating those efforts to running 50 separate campaigns, each requiring local knowledge alongside national resources.
A major component of the investment involves reaching voters before they encounter difficulties at the polls. Affiliates are organizing Know Your Rights trainings and distributing printed materials, including palm cards and wallet cards, explaining voting protections and where voters can seek assistance.
McGrath said the materials are intended to address concerns about intimidation and the federal government’s authority over elections while helping voters feel confident that their ballots will be counted.
The organization is also preparing volunteers to participate throughout the election cycle, including during early voting and the post-election period. McGrath said the goal is to build an infrastructure capable of responding to problems while reducing the likelihood that those problems develop.
“What we know is President Trump is not waiting until election day to sow chaos, to build distrust in this election, and we’re not waiting either,” McGrath said.
Election protection at the state level
In Michigan, those preparations involve a coalition of nonprofit organizations, attorneys and volunteers working to identify voting barriers and respond to problems at polling locations.
The ACLU Fund of Michigan is one of five organizations convening the state’s nonpartisan Election Protection Program, alongside All Voting is Local Michigan, Engage Michigan, Michigan Voices and Promote the Vote Fund. The statewide coalition brings together voting rights organizations working to ensure eligible voters can access the ballot and maintain confidence in election administration.
Jessica Ayoub, deputy political director of the ACLU of Michigan and head of its election protection program, said the organization is preparing for both routine voting difficulties and more deliberate attempts to disenfranchise voters.
“Our threat analysis for election protection always includes non-nefarious issues—like long lines or power outages at polling locations, as well as more nefarious issues specifically designed to disenfranchise voters,” Ayoub said by email.
Ayoub said the organization is paying close attention to communities that have historically faced greater barriers to voting, including people with disabilities, college students, non-native English speakers, voters experiencing homelessness, newly naturalized citizens and formerly incarcerated people.
Some barriers involve problems that can be addressed locally, such as poor signage, long lines or last-minute polling place changes. Other concerns involve misinformation about eligibility or possible intimidation.
“Our work is focused on ensuring that voters who are historically disenfranchised can meaningfully access the ballot box,” Ayoub said.
The organization is also working with election clerks and trusted community members to communicate how elections operate. Ayoub said inaccurate information can discourage voting even when the election system itself is functioning properly.
“We know that when voters don’t know who to trust or what information to trust, it can demotivate them from turning out to vote,” Ayoub said.
Volunteers monitor voting procedures
For SarahRenee Engemann Owens, volunteering as a nonpartisan poll challenger offered an opportunity to learn more about election administration and address public doubts about the voting process.
Owens, a disabled Navy aviation veteran, began volunteering with the ACLU of Michigan during the 2026 primary election. The organization connected her with Promote the Vote Fund of Michigan, which arranged for her to serve as a nonpartisan challenger.
“I was excited that, by volunteering as a poll challenger, I would learn about elections from behind the scenes,” Owens said. “I also hoped to be able to dispel negative rumors we often hear about the validity of elections, and I’m happy to share that I witnessed firsthand the utmost integrity in Michigan elections.”
At her assigned polling location, Owens monitored whether voting procedures met accessibility and election requirements. Her responsibilities included checking signage, wheelchair access, the availability of accessible voting equipment and whether voters had adequate privacy when casting ballots.
She also watched for possible intimidation outside the polling location and observed procedures involving voter registration, residency and absentee ballot records.
Michigan’s election rules limit how challengers interact with voters. Owens explained that she was not permitted to approach voters directly and instead communicated concerns through a designated challenger liaison.
If an issue arose, she could report it to the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline, where volunteer attorneys would determine whether additional action was necessary, including potential intervention by a legal representative.
“A poll challenger has one point of contact at the polling location, and that is the challenger liaison, to whom they bring any challenges regarding the election process,” Owens said
The process gives nonprofit volunteers a way to observe elections without taking over responsibilities assigned to election officials. It also creates a channel through which concerns can reach attorneys when a problem cannot be resolved at the polling location.
Owens said the experience strengthened her confidence in Michigan elections and reinforced the value of having nonpartisan participants observe the process.
“Non-partisan volunteers are another layer of checks and balances woven into the process to ensure every eligible vote is counted, and counted accurately,” Owens said.
Owens has since participated in an ACLU of Michigan public awareness campaign encouraging residents to trust the election process and become involved in its administration.
Her experience illustrates how the organization’s broader election safeguarding effort depends on people who volunteer their time to monitor local procedures, provide assistance and promote public confidence.
(Photo courtesy of the American Civil Liberties Union)
Building confidence beyond the election
For the ACLU, election safeguarding involves not only whether eligible voters can cast ballots, but also whether those ballots are counted and the results accepted.
McGrath said the organization will evaluate its work through several measures, including the number of early voting events conducted, voter education materials distributed, training participants reached and volunteers recruited or deployed.
Those figures will help the organization assess the reach of its programs, although McGrath said its broader measure of success is whether voters can participate and have their ballots counted.
In Michigan, election protection advocates are also trying to address a gap between election officials’ confidence in their systems and perceptions of public trust.
An ACLU of Michigan public awareness campaign cites research from the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy finding that 95% of township and city clerks were very confident in their ability to administer accurate elections. However, only 65% of local officials believed their residents were very confident in the accuracy of elections in their communities.
The findings help explain why election protection organizations are emphasizing public education alongside legal preparedness and volunteer monitoring.
Ayoub said the work cannot be limited to the weeks immediately surrounding an election because voting access and public confidence require continued attention. “Election protection work does not just happen on election day—or while people are voting,” Ayoub said. “The work of making sure our elections are accessible and fair is a year-round endeavor!”
That commitment extends beyond the Nov. 3 election, when the ACLU and its affiliates will assess the effectiveness of their preparations and continue responding to voting rights concerns.
For Owens, the experience of participating directly in election administration has already demonstrated the importance of local involvement. She hopes more residents will consider serving as poll workers or nonpartisan challengers rather than relying solely on what they hear about election security.
And for the ACLU’s national operation, the immediate objective remains ensuring that voters can participate without interference and that the results of the election reflect the ballots cast.
“Our North Star goal is to ensure that eligible voters can vote, that those ballots are counted, and that results are honored,” McGrath said.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded in 1920 to defend individual rights and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization operates nationwide and works on voting rights, free speech, reproductive freedom, immigration and criminal justice through litigation, policy advocacy, community organizing and public education. The ACLU and its consolidated entities reported approximately $482 million in expenses in fiscal year 2025. Its recent work has included challenges to Trump administration policies and a $24.5 million election safeguarding initiative aimed at protecting voting access and election results ahead of the 2026 midterms.