Know Your Rights
Where to turn for help: voter hotlines if something goes wrong at the polls, and legal observers, attorney hotlines, bail funds, and press-freedom support if you're heading to a protest, a canvass, or any public demonstration.
This page is informational, not legal advice. Laws vary by state and change over time. Confirm details directly
with the organization before relying on them, especially phone numbers and hours.
Voting & Elections
Turned away, told you're not on the list, or pressured at the polls? Start here. More on your rights at the polls is on the Elections & Voting page.
| Organization | How They Help | Contact | Scope / State |
|---|---|---|---|
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Election Protection (866-OUR-VOTE)
Source: Election Protection's own site (866ourvote.org, About page) and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (lawyerscommittee.org).
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Nonpartisan national voter-protection coalition of more than 300 partners, led by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Trained volunteers answer questions and help with problems registering, voting early, voting by mail, and at the polls, including intimidation or being turned away. | Call or text 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683). Other ways to reach them are listed at 866ourvote.org. | US |
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Election Protection language lines
Source: Election Protection's own site (866ourvote.org), hotline listings.
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Election Protection hotlines for callers who prefer Spanish, Asian languages, or Arabic. Each line also answers in English. | Spanish: 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682) Asian languages: 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683) Arabic: 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287) |
US |
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Your state election office
Source: Each state's election office is linked from that state's page on govote.joethevoter.org.
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Your state's official election office runs registration, polling places, and voting rules, and takes complaints about how an election was run. It holds your exact dates and is the authority on your state's rules. | Pick your state on Go Vote (Get Registered) for a direct link to your own state's election office. | US (each state has its own) |
Protests & Public Demonstrations
| Organization | How They Help | Contact | Scope / State |
|---|---|---|---|
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ACLU (national + state affiliates)
Source: InfluenceWatch profile of ACLU cross-checked against multiple state affiliate KYR pages (ACLU of Illinois, ACLU of Washington, ACLU of Ohio, ACLU of SoCal)
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Publishes state-specific know-your-rights guides for protesters and monitors/litigates First Amendment violations; individual state affiliates take intake for potential representation. | Contact your state ACLU affiliate via aclu.org/affiliates (no single national emergency hotline) | US (decentralized by state affiliate) |
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Black Movement-Law Project (BMLP)
Source: InfluenceWatch profile of Black Movement Law Project corroborating its rapid-response jail-support and legal-observer functions
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Deploys Legal Observers to protests, helps communities build local Jail Support teams for arrestees, and connects activists to a national network of civil/human rights attorneys. | Email info@bmlp.org or use the contact form at bmlp.org (no published 24/7 emergency phone line; form warns not to include sensitive info) | US |
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Center for Constitutional Rights - Mass Defense Committee
Source: CCR's own Toolkit for the Movement page cross-checked against InfluenceWatch's Center for Constitutional Rights profile describing its litigation/movement-support role
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Collaborative rapid-response legal network (with the National Lawyers Guild) providing legal support, a Protest Planner risk-assessment toolkit, and referrals to local legal representation for protesters and organizers. | Use the Protest Planner/Toolkit at ccrjustice.org/toolkit-for-the-movement and contact local NLG chapter for hotline/observer requests | US |
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Civil Liberties Defense Center
Source: InfluenceWatch profile of Civil Liberties Defense Center corroborating direct no-cost representation of arrested activists nationwide
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Represents grassroots activists at no cost when they are arrested for protest/organizing-related conduct, and runs Know Your Rights & Risks (KYRR) trainings before actions. | Use the contact/intake form at cldc.org (no published emergency phone hotline found) | US (based in Eugene, Oregon; nationwide activist defense) |
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Committee to Protect Journalists - US Journalist Assistance Network
Source: Poynter reporting on evolving legal support for journalists (2025) and CPJ's own site cross-checked against co-founding partner Freedom of the Press Foundation's announcement
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Coordinates free legal support (including direct legal representation and referrals), physical/digital safety training, and emergency response specifically for US-based journalists facing arrest, assault, or legal threats while reporting (including at protests). | Email emergencies@cpj.org (CPJ Emergencies team) or safety@cpj.org for the Journalist Assistance Network | US |
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Electronic Frontier Foundation
Source: EFF's own Legal Assistance and Legal Cases pages cross-checked against independent secondary reporting via search aggregation (uslawexplained.com overview); case selectivity independently corroborated
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Provides know-your-rights guidance on recording police and protecting devices/data at protests, and reviews individual requests for legal help (selectively litigates precedent-setting cases; refers others to a nationwide Cooperating Attorneys network). | Email info@eff.org via the Legal Assistance page (eff.org/pages/legal-assistance); no phone hotline | US |
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First Amendment Coalition
Source: InfluenceWatch profile and Ballotpedia entry both confirming FAC's California-focused public-records/First Amendment scope
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Legal Hotline gives free access to FAC attorneys for questions on public-records access, government-meeting access, and First Amendment/free-speech and free-press issues in California; does not provide representation or file documents. | Submit a request via the Legal Hotline page (firstamendmentcoalition.org/legal-hotline); response typically within days by phone or email | California |
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First Defense Legal Aid
Source: First Defense Legal Aid's own site (first-defense.org), which lists the 24-hour Help Not Jail Hotline, 1-800-LAWREP4 (1-800-529-7374); also cited in ACLU of Illinois protester know-your-rights materials.
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Chicago-based nonprofit operating a 24-hour hotline connecting people who are arrested (including at protests) with free attorneys who can respond to the police station before questioning. | Call 1-800-529-7374 (1-800-LAWREP4), staffed around the clock | Illinois |
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National Bail Fund Network (Community Justice Exchange)
Source: InfluenceWatch profile of National Bail Fund Network cross-checked against Chronicle of Philanthropy reporting on bail funds' post-2020 protest activity
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Maintains a directory of 90+ independent local community bail funds nationwide that post bail/bond for people who can't afford it, including protesters arrested during demonstrations. | Find and contact your local fund via the NBFN directory (communityjusticeexchange.org/en/nbfn-directory); network questions to network@communityjusticeexchange.org | US (directory of state/local funds) |
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National Lawyers Guild - Mass Defense Hotline (South/Atlanta)
Source: NLG's own hotline page (nlg.org/nlg-mass-defense-hotline), which lists 404-458-9449, staffed by the NLG Mass Defense Committee and NLG South Solidarity.
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Staffed legal support hotline offering know-your-rights info, attorney referrals, and bail-support connections for protesters; run by NLG South Solidarity/Atlanta NLG but states it also serves national callers. | Call 404-458-9449 | Georgia (regional chapter hotline; serves callers nationally per its own page) |
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National Lawyers Guild - Mass Defense Program
Source: InfluenceWatch (search-confirmed org description) and NLG's own program pages cross-checked against multiple NLG chapter sites (nlg-seattle.org, rocnlg.org)
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Deploys trained Legal Observers to monitor and document police conduct at protests, and connects arrestees/organizers to a nationwide attorney referral and jail-support network. | Contact local NLG chapter (nlg.org/chapters) or email massdef@nlg.org to request Legal Observers or support | US |
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Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press - Legal Hotline
Source: Poynter (2025 reporting on journalist legal support) and InfluenceWatch profile of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
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Free Legal Hotline for journalists and media lawyers covering newsgathering law, protest-coverage issues, subpoenas, and press-freedom questions; explicitly covers emergencies such as a journalist's arrest or imminent arrest while reporting. | Business hours: hotline@rcfp.org or online form at rcfp.org/legal-hotline; 24/7 emergency line: 1-800-336-4243 | US |
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U.S. Press Freedom Tracker
Source: Columbia Journalism Review feature on the Tracker's protest-coverage documentation, cross-checked against the Tracker's own About page
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Documents individual press-freedom incidents (arrests, assaults, equipment seizure) in a public database used by advocacy and legal organizations, and lets anyone submit an incident; for direct help it points to its advisory-board partners (CPJ, RCFP) rather than providing legal aid itself. | Submit an incident via the site's 'Submit an Incident' page; for direct legal help contact CPJ or RCFP above (Tracker itself is not a direct-aid provider) | US |