While campaigning in Virginia for the Democratic presidential ticket, Doug Emhoff stopped in Charlottesville and spoke with students at a voter protection training.
Miles Cooper, the president of UVA Law Democrats, introduced the second gentleman Wednesday as someone who is “no stranger to the challenges of being a law student, those long nights of studying.” A career lawyer, Emhoff is currently a distinguished visiting professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
The event, hosted by the Democratic Party of Virginia, trained people to become poll observers for DPVA’s voter protection team. On Election Day and during early voting, observers volunteer at voting precincts that lack local members.
Rich Anderson, the chair of the Republican Party of Virginia, said over the summer that he hoped there would be 5,000 volunteers serving as poll watchers during the early voting period that opened on Sept. 20.
On Thursday, Anderson told VPM News that more than 10,000 people have since signed up to volunteer. RPV continues to hold training sessions in person and over Zoom six days a week.
“I thought it was going to be a struggle to hit [5,000], but they’re got it in hyperdrive,” Anderson said.
And at Wednesday’s training, Emhoff amplified the Harris–Walz campaign’s stated commitment to protecting voting rights nationwide — from a lawyer’s perspective.
“I cannot tell you how important it is for what our profession does to protect democracy. We are literally on the front lines protecting the rest of our fellow citizens from what could happen when the rule of law is ignored, abused and taken advantage of,” Emhoff said. “That’s why lawyers have to be vigilant and prepared and ready for anything.”
Emhoff also spent time discussing the Republican ticket — former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance — and GOP supporters’ focus on implementing “egregious voter protection laws.”
The second gentleman recently campaigned in Texas, where multiple laws passed by the Republican-led state government since 2020 have practically resulted in voter intimidation and suppression or threatened ballot secrecy.
“Make no mistake, so many of these new ‘election integrity’ – and those are air quotes – arose because of Trump losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Emhoff said.
He reiterated that Trump’s loss in 2020 had been affirmed by dozens of courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as former Attorney General Bill Barr. (In late 2021, The Associated Press published an investigation into the allegations. It determined that suspected or confirmed voter fraud in disputed states would not have changed the 2020 election’s outcome in Trump’s favor.)
Emhoff also thanked UVA Law students for their work and participation “for the cause of democracy.” “You are joining a literal army of lawyers,” he said “that have been assembled to protect this election to make sure folks can vote, are not intimidated, are not afraid, are not falling for disinformation, misinformation, gaslighting.”
Read more elections coverage from VPM News.
