Impact Docket – 10/07/26

Written By Yasmine Oubahi

This week demands action. Here are 11 ways you can push back right now:

⚡ Quick Actions

📩 Short-Term Engagement — Public Comments & Trainings

🛠️ Long-Term Engagement — Election Protection Efforts

  • Combat election disinformation (national, remote — attorneys and non-attorneys) → Join the Response Network

  • VIRGINIA (in person, attorneys & law students — D.C./MD/VA): Serve as a Frontline Legal Advocate on Election Day → Register for the info session THIS FRIDAY, Oct 9

  • TEXAS (in person, attorneys): Serve as a Frontline Legal Monitor where coverage is thinnest → Learn more and sign up

  • MICHIGAN (in person, attorneys): Serve as an Election Protection Attorney → Sign up for a shift

  • MONTANA, MISSOURI & COLORADO: Defend the courts and our rights at the ballot box — CI-132, Amendment 3, and Props 134 & 135 → see how to help in your state below

🤝 Partner Actions

Whether you have 2 minutes or 2 days, join the fight. Keep reading for more context.

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🔴 The Moment We're In: 1,000 Monitors

Last week, Georgia’s State Election Board voted 3-2 to ask the Justice Department to declare the state’s voting machines illegal, with early voting set to begin Oct. 13. The board’s own chair, appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, voted no: “I have a fundamental issue with the federal government becoming involved in Georgia elections.” The secretary of state’s office called it an attempt “to cause chaos at the 11th hour.”

That Justice Department is already planning its largest-ever presence at the polls: 1,000 monitors on Nov. 3, up from 714 in 2024 and 289 in 2022. During Wyoming’s primary, monitors asked to examine tabulators and interview voters. Republican Gov. Mark Gordon asked his attorney general to investigate, saying their behavior “seemed to exceed” the authority Congress gave them.

On our latest episode of Resisting Injustice, L4GG’s video series with Legal AF, Stacey Abrams explained why election offices are under pressure and why ICE could show up at polling places: “They want to block you from participating, but they also want to make sure that if you make it through the gauntlet that you don’t get counted.” Volunteer lawyers answer voters’ questions, document problems and take the declarations courts rely on.

This docket has 13 ways to help, from serving at the polls in Virginia, Texas, Michigan or California to taking hotline calls or flagging disinformation from home. As Abrams put it, “They only win when we decide that we’ve already lost.”

Thirteen actions in this docket. Pick one. Start there.

⚡ QUICK ACTIONS

📺 Subscribe to L4GG on YouTube — Watch Stacey Abrams on Resisting Injustice

📍 L4GG.org/YouTube

Stacey Abrams joined our latest episode of Resisting Injustice to break down the 10 steps to autocracy and how to fight back. New episodes now post on L4GG’s own YouTube channel, so subscribing is the easiest way to catch each one. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

📩 SHORT-TERM ENGAGEMENT - PUBLIC COMMENTS & EVENTS

💧 Submit a Comment: Tell the EPA to Protect Our Wetlands and Streams — Due THIS FRIDAY

📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: THIS FRIDAY, October 9

The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers released a supplemental proposal to further shrink Clean Water Act protections for streams that do not flow year-round, freshwater wetlands and other waters. The agencies already updated the definition of “waters of the United States” in 2023 following the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA. This is yet another attack that would reduce protections for wetlands and waters that are critical to the health of our watersheds and the people, wildlife and ecosystems that rely on them. Make your voice heard to oppose this proposal.

  1. Read the Clean Water for All Coalition and Protect Our Waters Campaign’s comment template and draft your comment

  2. Submit your comment by October 9, 2026

  3. Let us know you submitted at L4GG.org/TrackComment

 

🏠 Submit a Comment: Oppose HUD’s Removal of Civil Rights Regulations — Due THIS FRIDAY

📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: THIS FRIDAY, October 9

Comments close Friday on HUD’s proposal to eliminate the department’s longstanding disparate impact regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin by recipients of federal financial assistance, including federally assisted housing. Disparate impact is a legal tool to address discrimination that may not be immediately obvious because a policy looks neutral on its face. Unlike other recent rollbacks of Title VI regulations, this one has a public comment period. Make your voice heard.

  1. Read Legal Defense Fund’s comment template and draft your comment

  2. Submit your comment by October 9, 2026

  3. Let us know you submitted at L4GG.org/TrackComment

 

🏦 Submit a Comment: Stop the Rollback of Banking Rules That Support Investment in Low-Income Communities — Due NEXT TUESDAY

📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: NEXT TUESDAY, October 13

Comments close next Tuesday on the Treasury Department’s proposal to weaken the Community Reinvestment Act. For nearly 50 years, the law has required banks to lend, invest and provide services in low- and moderate-income communities that historically faced barriers to credit and capital. Weakening it threatens funding for affordable housing, small businesses and community development.

  1. Read the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s comment template and draft your comment

  2. Submit your comment by October 13, 2026

  3. Let us know you submitted at L4GG.org/TrackComment

 

📊 Submit a Comment: Protect the Accuracy of the 2030 Census — Deadline Extended

📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: November 2 (extended)

The Census Bureau has extended the comment period by three weeks, to Nov. 2. The bureau has proposed two unprecedented changes to how the 2030 census and later counts are conducted. One proposal would fundamentally alter a 230-year precedent of counting ALL residents, regardless of immigration status. A second proposal would ban questions about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. A fair and accurate count is foundational to our democracy, as it is used to determine congressional districts, to distribute over $1 trillion in federal funding, to ensure civil rights and to conduct research that relies on accurate demographic data. Make your voice heard to oppose these changes.

  1. Read these comment templates and draft your comment

  2. Submit your comment by November 2, 2026

  3. Let us know you submitted at L4GG.org/TrackComment

 

👋 Meet the L4GG Team: Virtual Volunteer Open House for Pro Bono Week

📍 L4GG.org/OpenHouse | Tuesday, Oct 27 | 2:00 PM ET | Zoom

In celebration of national Pro Bono Week, join us for a virtual open house to meet the staff behind L4GG’s work. Founder and Executive Director Traci Feit Love will open with welcome remarks, followed by smaller breakout rooms with staff from our programs: the Pro Bono Litigation Corps, Environmental Justice, Clean Energy, Project Corazon, Gender Justice and Health Equity, Election Protection, and State Advocacy & Democratic Engagement. When you register, you can choose up to two breakout rooms to visit.

Register for the Oct 27 open house.

 

🛠️ LONG-TERM ENGAGEMENT - ELECTION PROTECTION

📡 Combat Election Disinformation: Join the Response Network

📍 L4GG.org/Disinfo | National, remote | Open to attorneys and non-attorneys

Three Tuesday evening shifts remain before Election Day: Oct. 13, 20 and 27, from 6–8 PM ET, plus Election Day shifts from 6 AM–8 PM ET on Nov. 3. L4GG’s Election Mis/Disinformation Response Network, built with Voter Protection Corps, trains volunteers to monitor social media for false or misleading election information, flag concerning content and support rapid response, all from home. Every shift is supervised by an election mis/disinformation expert.

Sign up and watch the recorded training.

 

🏛️ VIRGINIA: Serve as a Frontline Legal Advocate on Election Day — Info Session THIS FRIDAY

📍 L4GG.org/VAInfo | In person | Open to attorneys & law students (D.C., MD, VA) | Info session: THIS FRIDAY, Oct 9, 12:00 PM ET

In partnership with Virginia Election Protection, L4GG is recruiting D.C., Maryland and Virginia attorneys and law students to serve as legal advocates at 18 priority polling locations on Election Day, Nov. 3. Friday’s info session covers where you’re needed, from Hampton Roads to Central/Southside Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley/Southwest, along with same-day voter registration, one of the most common issues reported to the hotline in Virginia, and shift options. This session will be recorded and shared with all registrants. You do not need to be barred in Virginia. Ready now? Commit to serve and you’ll be registered automatically for the required 90-minute training on Oct. 22.

Register for the Oct 9 info session.

 

⭐ TEXAS: Serve as a Frontline Legal Monitor Where the Need Is Greatest

📍 L4GG.org/TXFrontline | In person | Open to attorneys

The required 90-minute training took place earlier today! When you sign up, we’ll send you the recording to complete on your own time. In partnership with the Texas Civil Rights Project, L4GG is recruiting attorneys to serve as legal monitors in 22 priority counties where legal coverage is thin, with border counties at the top of the list. Monitors answer voter questions, check polling places for ADA compliance and report problems. See the priority county map. Shifts are available every day of early voting, Oct. 19–30, and on Election Day, Nov. 3.

Learn more and sign up.

 

🗳️ MICHIGAN: Serve as an Election Protection Attorney

📍 L4GG.org/MichiganEP | In person | Open to attorneys

The 90-minute, on-demand training will become available this week; complete it at least four days before your shift. With the Promote the Vote Fund and the ACLU of Michigan, L4GG is recruiting attorneys to monitor early voting sites and polling places. Attorneys registered to vote in Michigan serve as challengers; others serve as poll monitors. Both engage election workers when problems arise and help collect affidavits, including for emergency same-day litigation led by the ACLU of Michigan. Four-hour shifts run Oct. 24–Nov. 1, plus Election Day shifts starting 7 AM, Nov. 3. An optional Q&A call on Monday, Oct. 26, will share the latest updates from the ground.

Learn More and Sign up for a shift; By doing so, you’ll get access to the mandatory training when it becomes available.

 

✅ MONTANA, MISSOURI & COLORADO: Defend the Courts and Our Rights at the Ballot Box

Several states are voting on measures that will shape judicial independence and fundamental rights. If you’re in one of these states, your voice carries real weight — and several campaigns have remote ways to help from anywhere.

Montana — Vote YES on CI-132. Montana politicians recently passed a bill allowing political parties to contribute large sums of money to judicial candidates. CI-132 would enshrine nonpartisan judicial elections in the state constitution, keeping politics out of the courts. Get involved with Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts: In Montana, add your name or display a placard; from anywhere, boost the campaign on Facebook, Instagram, or X.

Missouri — Vote NO on Amendment 3. In 2024, Missouri voters ended the state’s abortion ban and enshrined the Right to Reproductive Freedom in the state constitution. Now politicians are pushing to overturn the will of the people and ban abortion in nearly all cases again. Get involved and Stop the Ban: In Missouri, canvass across the state or in St. Louis this weekend; from anywhere, phone bank on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays (6:30–8:00 PM CDT on Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM CDT on Saturdays).

Colorado — Vote NO on Props 134 & 135. Both measures take decisions out of the hands of experts and families: Prop 134 subjects kids to invasive gender checks, and Prop 135 interferes with kids’ medical care — both with no appeals process. Get involved with Families, Not Politics: in Colorado, canvass in West Colfax, East Denver, or Colorado Springs, or share your story; from anywhere, phone bank on Wednesdays, 6–8:30 PM MDT.:

 

🤝 PARTNER ACTIONS

📋 CALIFORNIA: Monitor Polling Places with the Asian Law Caucus — Sign Up by NEXT TUESDAY

📍 Sign up with the Asian Law Caucus | In person | Open to attorneys and non-attorneys | Sign-up deadline: NEXT TUESDAY, Oct 13

Our partners at the Asian Law Caucus are recruiting volunteers for their long-running, nonpartisan poll monitoring program and need help most in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Placer, San Joaquin, Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare, Yolo and Yuba counties. On Election Day, monitors work a four-hour shift visiting three to five polling sites, checking accessibility, assisting voters and helping prevent harassment. Volunteers must be 18 or older; no legal experience, citizenship or voter registration is required, and bilingual volunteers are especially valued. The 90-minute trainings on Oct. 8 and Oct. 14 offer MCLE credit.

Sign up to monitor the polls with the Asian Law Caucus.

 

📞 MICHIGAN: Answer Voter Calls on the Election Protection Hotline

📍 Sign up for a hotline shift | Remote | Open to attorneys with any bar license

Our partners at the Promote the Vote Fund are staffing Michigan’s Election Protection Hotline with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law from mid-October through Nov. 6. Volunteers answer calls from voters with questions or problems, for a total commitment of about six to 10 hours. You can serve from anywhere, and any bar license qualifies. Training is provided, and every shift is supported by a captain with a solid understanding of Michigan election law.

Sign up for a hotline shift.

We’ll be back next week with more ways to take action—but the work doesn’t stop here. 

  • Know someone else who would be interested in this newsletter? Share this link so they can sign up too.

  • Join our rapid-response SMS group by texting “community” to 771-203-4895.

Yasmine Oubahi
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Impact Docket – 09/30/26