This week demands action. Here are 11 ways you can push back right now:
⚡ Quick Actions
Tell Congress: Permanently block OMB’s federal grant rule → Send your letter
📩 Short-Term Engagement — Public Comments & Events
Celebrate 10 years of L4GG and hear our big announcement → Register for the Nov 17 virtual celebration
Stop the EPA from repealing limits on power plant greenhouse gas emissions → Submit a comment by NEXT MONDAY, Nov 2
Protect the accuracy of the 2030 census → Submit a comment by NEXT MONDAY, Nov 2
Stop USDA from gutting a program that helps farmers cut energy costs → Submit a comment by NEXT MONDAY, 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 → Commit before the training TOMORROW, Oct 22
GEORGIA (in-person, attorneys, law students, and paralegals): Monitor county election certification meetings on Nov 6 → Learn more and sign up
Combat election disinformation (remote, attorneys and non-attorneys — national) → Join the Response Network
TEXAS (in-person, attorneys): Serve as a Frontline Legal Monitor during early voting, now through Oct 30 → Learn more and sign up
MICHIGAN (in-person, attorneys): Serve as an Election Protection Attorney as shifts start THIS SATURDAY, Oct 24 → Sign up for a shift
MONTANA, MISSOURI & COLORADO: Defend the courts and our rights at the ballot box → see how to help in your state below
🤝 Partner Actions
NORTH CAROLINA (remote, lawyers, law students, and paralegals): Answer voter calls on the Election Protection Hotline → Sign up for a hotline shift
Back local organizing groups with legal support during the midterms (attorneys with protest support or criminal defense experience) → Fill out the intake form
Whether you have two minutes or two days, join the fight. Keep reading for more context.
🔴 The Moment We're In: Ballots Being Set Aside
On Monday, the Justice Department asked Washington state to set aside ballots cast by more than 400 voters it says may be noncitizens and gave election officials 24 hours to review its list. “This is only the tip of the iceberg,” said acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the timing, one week before the election, “is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results.”
Washington isn’t the first state where we’ve seen interference. The Justice Department has sued to stop California from counting mail ballots from about 20,000 voters it calls “likely” noncitizens. Los Angeles County officials told the court the list includes many apparent U.S. citizens. At a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter warned the department about letters telling election officials they could be prosecuted for counting those ballots. “This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state and county elected employees cease immediately,” Carter said.
Protecting every ballot is more important than ever.
Election Day is six days away, and sign-ups for L4GG’s final shifts are closing: Virginia’s today, Texas’s Friday, and Georgia’s Monday. Volunteer lawyers make sure challenged voters know their rights and document problems while they can still be fixed. Serve at the polls in Virginia on Election Day, in Texas as early voting ends Friday, at Georgia’s county board meetings on Nov. 6, or from home with our disinformation network.
This is the last Impact Docket before Election Day. If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to plug in, this is it.
Eleven actions in this docket. Pick one. Start there.
⚡ QUICK ACTIONS
💵 Tell Congress: Block OMB’s Grant Rule for Good
Congress temporarily blocked the White House Office of Management and Budget’s proposed overhaul of federal grant rules, but that block expires Dec. 11. If it lapses, any administration could withhold, suspend, or terminate grants without notice or cause and award funding based on partisan ideology rather than merit, community need, and congressional intent. The rule would also force states, local governments, schools, and universities to implement unlawful executive orders, eviscerating decades of civil rights protections.
Tell Congress to block OMB’s grant rule for good. Prefer to call? Use our call script.
📩 SHORT-TERM ENGAGEMENT - PUBLIC COMMENTS & EVENTS
🎂 L4GG at 10: Join Our Virtual Anniversary Celebration
📍 L4GG.org/10YearsCelebration | Tuesday, Nov 17 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Zoom
Ten years ago, one Facebook post brought more than 125,000 lawyers together. Join Founder and Executive Director Traci Feit Love to celebrate what this community has built since, from Project Corazón’s first deployments to the launch of the Pro Bono Litigation Corps. Hear from the clients, volunteers, and champions who lived it. We’ll also be sharing a big announcement about L4GG’s next 10 years and how you can be a part of it.
Register for the Nov 17 celebration.
🏭 Submit a Comment: Oppose EPA’s Repeal of the Greenhouse Gas Findings for Power Plant Emissions — Due NEXT MONDAY
📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: NEXT MONDAY, November 2
EPA is proposing to repeal all remaining greenhouse gas (GHG) requirements on power plants. Power plants are the largest industrial source of GHG emissions in the U.S., yet EPA now believes the Clean Air Act did not give it authority to regulate those emissions. Just as it did when it repealed the Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles, EPA believes power plant emissions don’t contribute enough to global climate change 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 — Due NEXT MONDAY
📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: NEXT MONDAY, November 2
The U.S. Census Bureau has proposed two unprecedented changes to how the 2030 census and later counts are conducted. One would fundamentally alter a 230-year precedent of counting ALL residents, regardless of immigration status. The other would ban questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The count is used to determine congressional districts and to distribute over $1 trillion in federal funding. Add your voice to the 90,000 comments already submitted 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
🚜 Submit a Comment: Oppose USDA’s Efforts to Gut Grant Program That Funds Renewable Energy in Rural Areas — Due NEXT MONDAY
📍 Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: NEXT MONDAY, November 2
USDA is accepting comments on its new rule to gut the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which helps farmers and rural small businesses cut energy costs by installing renewable energy and making efficiency improvements. Under the new rule, wind and solar projects would be banned entirely. Projects would need to be operational for a full year before farmers could even apply for funding — a huge upfront investment without any guarantee of reimbursement. Farmers also wouldn’t be allowed to sell excess energy back to the grid, and the grant would be limited to only 25% of their investment. REAP is a successful bipartisan program that has driven billions of dollars to rural economic development, yet it has suffered from funding freezes and other disruptions by the Trump administration.
Read the rule summary by the Environmental Law & Policy Center 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 — Sign Up TODAY
📍 L4GG.org/VAFrontline | In-person on Tuesday, Nov 3 | Open to attorneys and law students (D.C., MD, VA)
In partnership with Virginia Election Protection, L4GG is placing attorneys and law students at 18 priority polling locations on Election Day, Nov. 3. Advocates answer voter questions, flag problems, and create documentation for potential litigation during four-hour shifts. Commit, watch the required training on the program page, and sign up for your shift. Today, Oct. 28, is the last day to sign up. You do not need an active Virginia license.
Learn more and commit to serve.
🍑 GEORGIA: Monitor Election Certification Where It Matters Most — Sign Up by NEXT MONDAY
📍 L4GG.org/GAMonitors | In-person on Friday, Nov 6 | Open to attorneys, law students, and paralegals
In partnership with All Voting is Local Georgia, L4GG is recruiting lawyers and law students to observe county Board of Elections meetings across Georgia on Friday, Nov. 6, the last public moment before counties formally certify election results. Board members sometimes raise fraud claims or signal they won’t certify at these meetings, despite certification being a nondiscretionary legal duty. Most counties don’t stream the meetings. Complete a short training, and choose your county. Sign up by Monday, Nov. 2; volunteers are especially needed in Hall, Grady, Henry, and Floyd counties. No Georgia bar admission required.
Watch the required training and sign up for a county meeting here.
📡 Combat Election Disinformation: Join the Response Network
📍 L4GG.org/Disinfo | Remote | Open to attorneys and non-attorneys (national)
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. Volunteers can work asynchronously based on their schedule, or they can choose to join a shift supervised by an expert on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 6 a.m.-8 p.m. ET.
Sign up and watch the recorded training.
⭐ TEXAS: Serve as a Frontline Legal Monitor — Sign Up by THIS FRIDAY
📍 L4GG.org/TXFrontline | In-person | Open to attorneys
Early voting volume is breaking records in Texas and election protection infrastructure needs more support than anticipated. In partnership with the Texas Civil Rights Project, L4GG is placing attorneys 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. Sign up, watch the required training recording, and choose your shift. Friday, Oct. 30, is the last day to sign up.
✅ MONTANA, MISSOURI & COLORADO: Defend the Courts and Our Rights at the Ballot Box
Voting is underway on measures that will shape judicial independence and fundamental rights: Montana voters can cast absentee ballots in person, Colorado mail ballots are out, and Missouri’s no-excuse in-person absentee voting is open. 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: From anywhere, sign up to make get-out-the-vote calls and join the phone bank training on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. MDT.
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, join a get-out-the-vote canvass; from anywhere, phone bank throughout the week.
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. The most important thing you can do right now is phone bank with Families, Not Politics. Persuasion calls run through Oct. 30, and you can join from anywhere: See all phone banks. In Colorado for the final weekend? Join a canvass in Aurora on Oct. 31 or Boulder on Nov. 1, or virtual phone bank all day Nov. 2-3.
🤝 PARTNER ACTIONS
🗳️ Serve as a Nonpartisan Poll Monitor with Election Protection
📍 Sign up to monitor | In-person | KY, MA, MD, NE, PA, VA, and NV
Our partners at Election Protection are in the final sprint to recruit poll monitors. Partners have trained thousands of people across the country who are already serving in early voting shifts, and final trainings are happening in the next five days.
Recruiting is focused on:
Kentucky: Jefferson and Fayette counties
Massachusetts: volunteers who speak Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Portuguese, or Brazilian Portuguese
Maryland: Wicomico County, Eastern Shore counties, and Frederick County
Nebraska: suburbs outside Omaha and Lincoln
Pennsylvania: Lehigh County
Virginia: Richmond metro, Prince William County, and Albemarle County
Nevada: Washoe and Clark counties
🎉 Community Impact: 670 Attorneys and Counting
This election season, nearly 700 attorneys have joined L4GG’s election protection work across six programs, from polling places in Virginia, Michigan, and Texas to Georgia’s county certification meetings and our disinformation network online. They come from across the legal profession, including solo practitioners, small firms, and retired attorneys.
We want to send enormous thanks to every one of you and to everyone who passed these opportunities along to a colleague or friend.
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.
