Every month, We The Action recognizes lawyers who embody our mission to expand access to justice and deliver free legal services where they are critically needed. In honor of National Volunteer Week and as primary elections unfold across the country, we are proud to honor Marjorie Conner — a volunteer whose decades-long commitment to election integrity has helped safeguard the people who make our democracy function.
Congratulations, Marjorie!
“This is not something people sign up to do because it’s thrilling. They do it out of a sense of civic duty. And that civic duty should be protected. As lawyers, we have an obligation to protect them.”
— Marjorie Conner, We The Action Volunteer
Meet the Volunteer: Marjorie Conner, a graduate of the University of Memphis Law School, built her career in communications law. But her path toward election protection work was shaped by an influential professor during her graduate studies, when she began to understand the vital, often overlooked role that election officials play in sustaining democratic systems.
Marjorie first engaged in election-related work in 2001, following the challenges of the 2000 election. What began as an observation evolved into a long-standing commitment to election protection.
Working closely with election officials, Marjorie gained firsthand insight into the profession and the integrity that defines their work.
“Our election officials are not partisan. The system is designed to ensure balance, with equal representation across parties. These are well-trained, thoughtful professionals who take their responsibility seriously and listen to every voter.”
The Important Work of Protecting Election Officials: Across the United States, election officials are enduring threats, harassment, intimidation, defamation, and, in some states, exposure to criminal penalties, for simply doing their jobs of administering fair elections.
In response, We The Action partnered with the Election Official Legal Defense Network (EOLDN), a nonpartisan project that safeguards election administration by matching election officials with pro bono attorneys.
Since 2021, We The Action has recruited more than 350 volunteers to support election officials across the country.
The Important Work of Protecting Election Officials: Across the United States, election officials are enduring threats, harassment, intimidation, defamation, and, in some states, exposure to criminal penalties, for simply doing their jobs of administering fair elections.
In response, We The Action partnered with the Election Official Legal Defense Network (EOLDN), a nonpartisan project that safeguards election administration by matching election officials with pro bono attorneys.
Since 2021, We The Action has recruited more than 350 volunteers to support election officials across the country.
Marjorie’s Impact: Through her work with EOLDN, Marjorie has supported election officials in navigating deeply personal and often complex challenges.
Marjorie recently paired with several election officials in Virginia, providing guidance and support ahead of the upcoming primary elections.
“Without Marjorie, the election officials would have been unsure of how to handle the problem, nervous about escalating, and worried about repercussions,” says Angie Pitha, Project Lead at EOLDN. “Marjorie took on a high-pressure situation, and when the work expanded, she didn't blink an eye. She devised a strategy to address the problem. The election officials might have quit without the support. Now they are still on the job, running elections for their community. The elections office did not lose these good employees with vital experience.”
“You don’t know how people are going to vote,” expressed Marjorie. “You just want to make sure every registered voter has the opportunity. The election officials who expect challenges prepare quietly. They take this responsibility seriously.”
Be Like Marjorie: Election officials, like the individuals Marjorie helped, face challenges like this before and after every election.
EOLDN needs volunteers nationwide, and election law experience is usually not required. We’re especially looking for attorneys with litigation, employment, criminal defense, defamation experience, and attorneys who can give general guidance.
This National Volunteer Week, join us so we’re ready to support election heroes this election season.
As Marjorie notes, this work is “essential to preserving our democracy.”