Impact Docket – 10/14/26
This week demands action. Here are 14 ways you can push back right now:
📩 Short-Term Engagement — Public Comments & Events
Stop the IRS from threatening the tax-exempt status of schools that support minority students → Register for the Oct 23 office hour
Meet the L4GG team during Pro Bono Week → Register for the Oct 27 virtual open house
Stop the EPA from repealing limits on power plant greenhouse gas emissions → Submit a comment by Nov 2
Protect the accuracy of the 2030 census → Submit a comment by Nov 2
🛠️ Long-Term Engagement — Election Protection Efforts
VIRGINIA (in-person, attorneys and law students — D.C./MD/VA): Serve as a Frontline Legal Advocate on Election Day → Sign up before the Oct 22 training
GEORGIA (in-person, attorneys): Monitor county election certification meetings on Nov 6 → Register for the Oct 19 info session or sign up now
GEORGIA (remote, attorneys and non-attorneys): Help map county certification meetings this week and next → Email probono@L4GG.org
Combat election disinformation (remote, attorneys and non-attorneys — national) → Join the Response Network
TEXAS (in-person, attorneys): Serve as a Frontline Legal Monitor as early voting opens NEXT MONDAY, Oct 19 → Learn more and sign up
MICHIGAN (in-person, attorneys): Serve as an Election Protection Attorney → Sign up for a shift
CALIFORNIA (in-person, attorneys and law students): Serve as an Election Day legal monitor → Tell us you’re interested
MONTANA, MISSOURI & COLORADO: Defend the courts and our rights at the ballot box → see how to help in your state below
🤝 Partner Actions
OHIO (in-person, attorneys and law students): Serve as a nonpartisan roving legal monitor on Election Day → Fill out the interest form
Help communities facing data center proposals → Explore the model policy guide and register for the Oct 22 briefingWhether you have 2 minutes or 2 days, join the fight. Keep reading for more context.
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🔴 The Moment We're In: Who Gets to Vote
Last Friday, a federal judge struck down the Justice Department’s policy of collecting state voter rolls, running them through a federal immigration database, and pressing states to remove the people it flagged. “The challenged policy represents the federal government’s attempt to decide who gets to vote,” U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan wrote.
Anthony Nel, a U.S. citizen in Texas, was one of the people those checks got wrong. His registration was canceled after an inaccurate result. “After I found out I’d been removed from the voter rolls as an eligible voter, it felt like I had my right to vote wrongly taken away,” he said. “No other voter should have to go through what I did.”
Election Day is less than three weeks away, and voting has started. Georgia set a first-day early voting record on Tuesday, and Texas opens early voting Monday. When a voter like Nel shows up and something is wrong, a lawyer on site can answer questions, document the problem, and take the declaration a court will need. That’s why L4GG is placing volunteer lawyers at the polls in Texas, Virginia and Michigan.
This week, we’re adding two more ways to serve. In Georgia, attorneys can watch the county board meetings held before results are certified on Nov. 6, starting with an info session Monday, Oct. 19. In California, tell us if you can serve as a legal monitor on Election Day. If you haven’t plugged in yet, now is the time.
14 actions in this docket. Pick one. Start there.
📩 SHORT-TERM ENGAGEMENT - PUBLIC COMMENTS & EVENTS
🎓 Office Hour: Your Comment Counts — Protect University Civil Rights Remedies
📍 L4GG.org/TaxExemptOfficeHour | Friday, Oct 23 | 12:00 p.m. ET | Zoom
The IRS has proposed a rule threatening the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status of private schools that offer targeted support to minority students. Administration officials call it a simple clarification of existing tax law. In practice, it’s an effort to dictate whom colleges and universities may serve. Join L4GG and the Alliance for Higher Education’s Director of Policy and Stakeholder Organizing, Eddy Conroy, to get your comment started. We’ll share what we know so far about the rule, walk through the resources and templates we have, and answer your questions. This session will be recorded and shared with all registrants.
Register for the Oct 23 office hour.
👋 Meet the L4GG Team: Virtual Volunteer Open House for Pro Bono Week
📍 L4GG.org/OpenHouse | Tuesday, Oct 27 | 2:00 p.m. ET | Zoom
Founder and Executive Director Traci Feit Love kicks off the open house, then you’ll head into smaller breakout rooms with the staff behind our programs, from the Pro Bono Litigation Corps and Project Corazon to Election Protection. When you register, you can choose up to two breakout rooms to visit.
Register for the Oct 27 open house.
🏭 Submit a Comment: Oppose EPA’s Repeal of the Greenhouse Gas Findings for Power Plant Emissions
📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: November 2
EPA is proposing to repeal all remaining greenhouse gas (GHG) requirements on power plants. Even though power plants are the largest industrial source of GHG emissions in the U.S., EPA now believes that the Clean Air Act did not give it authority to regulate those emissions. Just like its earlier repeal of the Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles, EPA believes that the contribution of power plant emissions to global climate change is not sufficient to endanger public health or welfare. EPA was wrong about motor vehicles and is wrong about power plants. Make your voice heard to oppose this proposal.
Read L4GG’s comment template and draft your comment
Submit your comment by November 2, 2026
Let us know you submitted at L4GG.org/TrackComment
📊 Submit a Comment: Take Action to Protect the Accuracy of the Census
📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: November 2 (extended!)
More than 43,000 comments are already in. The U.S. Census 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 used to determine congressional districts and to distribute over $1 trillion in federal funding. Add your voice before the Nov. 2 deadline.
Read these comment templates and draft your comment
Submit your comment by November 2, 2026
Let us know you submitted at L4GG.org/TrackComment
🛠️ LONG-TERM ENGAGEMENT - ELECTION PROTECTION
🏛️ VIRGINIA: Serve as a Frontline Legal Advocate on Election Day
📍 L4GG.org/VAFrontline | In-person | Open to attorneys and law students (D.C., MD, VA) | Required training: Thursday, Oct 22
Missed the Oct. 9 info session? The recording is on the program page. 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. When you commit, you’re registered automatically for the required 90-minute training on Oct. 22; if you can’t attend live, you’ll get the recording. Election Day shifts run 6-10 a.m., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 2:30-7 p.m. You do not need to be barred in Virginia.
Learn more and commit to serve.
🍑 GEORGIA: Monitor Election Certification Where It Matters Most
📍 L4GG.org/GAMonitors | In-person | Open to attorneys | Info session: Monday, Oct 19, 2:00 p.m. ET
In partnership with All Voting is Local Georgia, L4GG is recruiting attorneys to observe county Board of Elections pre-certification meetings across Georgia on Friday, Nov. 6 — the last public moment before counties formally certify the election results. These meetings are where board members sometimes raise fraud claims or signal they won’t certify, despite certification being a nondiscretionary legal duty. Most counties don’t stream them. A lawyer in the room is the only record of what happens. Sign up for the program, complete a short asynchronous training, choose your county from open slots, and submit a brief report the same day.
No Georgia bar admission required.
Register for the Oct 19 info session or sign up directly.
📞 Help Us Map Georgia Election Certification Meetings — A Few Hours This Week & Next
📍 Email probono@L4GG.org | Remote | Open to attorneys and non-attorneys
We need a small number of volunteers to spend a few hours over the next few business days calling Georgia county Boards of Elections to confirm when and where their pre-certification meetings are being held on Nov. 6. No legal expertise required — just a phone and a few hours.
Email probono@L4GG.org if you have capacity this week and next and we’ll get you started ASAP.
📡 Combat Election Disinformation: Join the Response Network
📍 L4GG.org/Disinfo | National, remote | Open to attorneys and non-attorneys
Two Tuesday evening shifts remain before Election Day: Oct. 20 and 27, 6-8 p.m. ET, plus Election Day shifts 6 a.m.-8 p.m. ET on Nov. 3. L4GG’s Election Mis/Disinformation Response Network, built with Voter Protection Corps, trains volunteers to spot false election information online and flag it for rapid response, all from home. Every shift is supervised by an election mis/disinformation expert.
Sign up and watch the recorded training.
⭐ TEXAS: Serve as a Frontline Legal Monitor as Early Voting Opens
📍 L4GG.org/TXFrontline | In-person | Open to attorneys
Early voting in Texas opens next Monday, Oct. 19, and runs every day through Oct. 30. 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. The required 90-minute training took place on Oct. 7. When you sign up, we’ll send you the recording to complete on your own time.
🗳️ MICHIGAN: Serve as an Election Protection Attorney
📍 L4GG.org/MichiganEP | In-person | Open to attorneys
Shifts start Saturday, Oct. 24. 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 a.m., Nov. 3. Complete the 90-minute, on-demand training at least four days before your shift. 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.
📋 CALIFORNIA: Interest Check — Election Day Legal Monitors, Nov. 3
📍 L4GG.org/CAInterest | In-person | Open to attorneys and law students
L4GG is exploring a partnership with a California voting rights organization to train and deploy lawyers as poll monitors with rapid response and documentation responsibilities on Election Day, Nov. 3. Training would take place the week of Oct. 26. Before we commit, we need to gauge interest — if you’re a California-based attorney or law student (or licensed elsewhere and willing to travel) who could serve on Nov. 3, fill out this short interest form now. If we move forward, we’ll be in touch.
✅ MONTANA, MISSOURI & COLORADO: Defend the Courts and Our Rights at the Ballot Box
Voting is already underway on measures that will shape judicial independence and fundamental rights: Montana voters can cast absentee ballots in person now, Colorado mail ballots are out, and Missouri’s no-excuse in-person absentee voting opens Oct. 20. 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; from anywhere, phone bank on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays (6:30-8:00 p.m. CDT on Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 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 p.m. MDT.
🤝 PARTNER ACTIONS
🔍 OHIO: Serve as a Nonpartisan Roving Legal Monitor on Election Day
📍 Fill out the interest form | In-person | Open to attorneys and law students
Our partners at Ohioans Against Extremism — with the Ohio Democracy Project, All Voting is Local, Common Cause Ohio, and Ohioans for the Rule of Law — are seeking lawyers and law students to serve as nonpartisan legal roving monitors through the Lawyer Engagement Election Protection (LEEP) program. Monitors will supplement Ohio’s existing poll monitor program by offering additional support for issue spotting, preservation of records, and litigation preparation. Complete the interest form to receive updates on training, events, and opportunities to get involved.
Fill out the LEEP interest form.
🖥️ Data Centers: Use the New Model Policy Guide and Join the Oct. 22 Briefing
📍 Register here | Thursday, Oct 22 | 2:00 p.m. ET | Zoom
Our partners at We Build Progress and seven other organizations just released “Communities Take Charge: Data Center Model Policy Guide,” a free set of model policies for communities facing data center proposals. It includes model moratorium ordinances for states and localities; a model local prohibition; and a model regulatory ordinance with standards for energy, water, pollution, noise, transparency, labor, and subsidies. On Oct. 22, the partners will walk organizers, elected officials, and local leaders through how to adapt the templates.
We’ll be back next week with more ways to take action—but the work doesn’t stop here.
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