Last night I witnessed something truly impressive. Some two hundred and fifty lawyers, law students, and law school graduates assembled at the National Rural Electric Cooperative building in Arlington, VA for a training session put on by "Promote the Vote," the effort by the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party of Virginia to ensure that every vote is counted, and everyone entitled to vote is allowed to do so.
(This is a shot I took with my camera phone of the assembled Obama supporters. I blurred the faces, since I didn't seek the permission of the folks in this shot.)
This was just one of thirty training sessions scheduled across the Commonwealth, with more being added each day, as the response is overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that they have turned away traditional assistance from people who are legally trained, but never went to law school, like paralegals. Everyone associated with this effort has either earned a Juris Doctor degree or is in pursuit of one.
Upon arrival, we checked in with the Promote the Vote staff. We were seated in this large conference room where we were addressed by Seth Stark, Deputy Associate Counsel for the Democratic Party of Virginia. He gave us the numbers of people participating and the rundown of the team working to protect the rights of Virginians to vote.
We then heard from Rita Aguilar, who is the Virginia chair for Promote the Vote. She, like Mr. Stark, thanked us profusely for volunteering our time and talents. She also reminded us that between now and election day, there is plenty of volunteering to be done. Even thirty minutes on the way home from work can help turn Virginia blue.
Mr. Stark then began our training. We had all downloaded a thick and extensive packet from the Promote the Vote website that contained one of the most impressive training packets I've ever seen. We were bound by non-disclosure agreements when we received the packets, so I can't get into the contents, but let me assure you, it is phenomenal. It's designed to give anyone with a legal education the right information to be an effective election law advocate for the Obama team.
We were told that in Northern Virginia, there would be enough attorneys to staff every precinct, and probably two per precinct. We were further told not to assume that the election officials would know the law--these are human beings, most of them are not legally trained, and mistakes are bound to happen from state officials, so it will be our job to be experts on the subject. Perhaps most impressive is the central operations the legal team will have in each targeted state and in the Chicago headquarters. In Virginia, they will have enough lawyers in regional offices and at the state legal HQ in Northern Virginia that if any of the precinct attorneys cannot address a problem, we phone it in to their hotline, and they guarantee to have it resolved within five minutes.
I won't get into the nitty gritty of the training, partially because I don't know how much they wanted to be public, and also partially because I think it would bore and confuse the vast majority of readers who didn't go to law school. But if there's one thing to take away from this diary, it's that I can say with complete confidence that if we lose this election, it won't be because we let another Florida 2000 happen.