Nonprofits are training volunteers for polling places ahead of November 3, the Chronicle reports

Ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, many nonprofits are training staff and volunteers to observe polling places, document disruptions and report problems, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported on October 14. The figures below are as the Chronicle reported them.

Who is training whom

Common Cause has expanded its voter protection work from 14 states to 23, Daryl Lobban, the group's senior vice president of external affairs, told the Chronicle. The League of Women Voters plans to have 20,000 volunteers at polling sites across the country, according to the report. "The goal for us is to create confidence," said Celina Stewart, the League's CEO. "Every voter should be able to cast their ballot freely, and every poll worker should be able to serve safely."

The Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, a coalition led by the Brennan Center for Justice, Protect Democracy, the R Street Institute and Ready for Tuesday, a consulting firm led by former election officials, hosted nearly 70 training events before the 2024 elections and has more than doubled that number this year, the Chronicle reported. It has distributed more than 100,000 pocket handbooks for police officers to use on Election Day, and the MacArthur Foundation has provided $1 million in support. Separately, an effort of more than 300 nonprofits runs the 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline, the report said.

The funding picture

Foundation grants for election administration, including security, reached nearly $200 million in 2024, according to data cited by the Chronicle. That was up from $125 million before the 2022 midterms but well below the pandemic-era peak of nearly $1 billion in 2020. Because public reporting on grant making lags, the Chronicle said, it is not possible to say whether philanthropy is giving more for election security this year. The Brennan Center spent just under $11 million on such work in 2024, and its budget for it this year is $14.5 million, the report said.

The report places the training in a wider context. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which provided 1,300 physical security assessments in 2023 and 2024, has lost about a third of its more than 3,000 employees since President Trump took office, the Chronicle reported, and nonprofits have tried to replicate some of the training the agency once offered. The administration has said it has no plans to mobilize ICE units at polling places but has not ruled out sending agents in specific cases, according to the report.

What nonprofits should check

In our view, a charity that sends volunteers to polling places needs written nonpartisan rules, a plan for de-escalation and its own legal advice, including on state rules about who may be present at a polling place. Election-year activity by 501(c)(3) organizations has firm limits; see what a charity can and cannot do at a candidate forum. For the scale of foundation money in this field, see Candid's analysis of democracy grants.