NYU Law Voter Protection Trip
NYU Law students will travel to Pennsylvania on Election Day to participate as poll watchers. Please consider supporting NYU Law students and important voter protection work by donating.
Why the need for a voter protection trip?
Many of us are fearful for the future of American (and likely global) democracy. We are currently standing on the precipice of a dire threat to the core of our country's constitutional order: the idea that free and fair elections should determine the people and party in power.
Nowhere is this threat more pronounced, or more likely to have a disproportionately large impact, than the upcoming election in Pennsylvania. Current candidates for statewide office have openly denied the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election and even participated in the failed coup on January 6th. Groups that want to intimidate voters are already active, so we will be on the front lines of ensuring that all Americans are able to exercise their right to vote.
In response, nonprofits and pro-democracy activists are trying to recruit poll watchers for election day to help report any improper conduct by officials or outside agitators toward voters. As Pennsylvania will almost assuredly prove crucial to the result of the 2024 Presidential election, the midterm result there could determine the very course of our nation's history.
Why NYU Law?
This is an important opportunity for NYU Law. It offers the people attending - primarily 1Ls - the chance to meet other students passionate about the same work that they are and to build a community outside of class. It is a call for NYU Law students to engage in voting work and to apply their degrees in the "real world" by ensuring that people have the ability to vote, that they aren't being turned away due to ID restrictions, that they are in the right lines, and that long lines aren't a deterrent. Even though NYU Law gave students the day off class to engage in exactly this type of work, this is the only NYU Law event taking place on election day and it's in a state where the midterm elections really matter.
Why support the trip?
We want to make the barrier to entry as low as possible so that all interested NYU students can be part of this opportunity to defend democracy, have a real impact in a crucial election, and meet other NYU students who care about the same things you do. We are doing everything we can to fundraise for this important trip and ensure that NYU Law students are doing their part to protect the future of American democracy. Please consider donating to ensure all students can attend without having to contribute their own funds. If you are able to donate or share with your networks who might be able to donate, please send this GoFundMe.
What's the money going to?
We're hoping to send 55 students to the Philadelphia area. Your funds will cover transportation – students are choosing the lowest cost Amtrak tickets - and two nights in a hotel for the students, who will be sharing accommodations.