LOUISVILLE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky will participate in an Election Protection Project on Tuesday in several Jefferson County precincts to try to ensure that no one is deterred from voting or is otherwise intimidated.

Nearly 60 workers and volunteers will conduct exit polling at approximately 15 precincts throughout the county to determine whether voters experience harassment, intimidation, or any other obstacles in casting their ballots.

Voters who experience problems should call the ACLU at 502-581-9746, where lawyers will be available while polls are open.

“Especially with the record numbers of newly registered voters, we want to do everything possible to avoid a repeat of the 2000 election debacle and to make sure that every vote is counted,” said Beth Wilson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kentucky.

Election Protection monitors will talk to voters as they exit the polling site to determine whether they encountered any difficulty in casting their ballots.  If so, the exit pollers will attempt to determine what went wrong and try to resolve the problem.

ACLU volunteer attorneys will be available throughout the day to try to deal with any issues that cannot be resolved on site.

The ACLU of Kentucky received a $5,000 grant to cover the cost of the project from the national ACLU Voting Rights Project.

Election Protection is a national effort among a coalition of organizations, including People for the American Way, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the ACLU.