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Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ)

Website:

taketheplej.org/
Type:

Election Advocacy Organization
Executive Director:

Carolina Lopez

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Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ) is a membership-based coalition open to election officials and administrators representing jurisdictions that have a population greater than 300,000 or that are one of the three largest jurisdictions in their state. 1

In 2023, PLEJ co-signed letters written by the left-of-center Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights 2 3 and Election Infrastructure Initiative, a project of Center for Secure and Modern Elections (CSME) and Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL), that called for increased federal funding of state and local elections. 4

History and Leadership

Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ) was founded in 2022. 5 Members of PLEJ’s steering committee include representatives from Durham County, North Carolina; Atlantic County, New Jersey; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Saint Louis County, Missouri; Los Angeles County, California; Denver, Colorado; Cook County, Illinois; and Indianapolis, Indiana. 6 Election officials from DeKalb County, Georgia, also have expressed interest in joining the organization. 7

Carolina Lopez is the executive director of PLEJ. From February 2009 to February 2017, she was the deputy supervisor of elections for Miami-Dade County, Florida. 8 9 As of March 2024, Lopez is also on the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC)’s Election Workforce Advisory Council, which is a project of BPC and The Elections Group. 10

Previously, Lopez supported various Biden administration policy priorities that would expand the federal government’s power over elections. 11 She has advocated for election ballots to be printed in languages other than English, 12 led national get-out-the-vote efforts for left-of-center America Votes, 13 and is a member of the center-left Bipartisan Policy Center and the left-of-center The Elections Group’s Election Workforce Advocacy Council, a consulting group. 14 15

Activities and Funding

Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ) is a membership-based partnership that is open to election officials and administrators representing jurisdictions that have a population greater than 300,000 or are one of the three largest jurisdictions in their state. 16

PLEJ asserts that large electoral jurisdictions face logistical burdens and other election- and voter-related challenges that are compounded on a massive scale due to their size and aims to provide a support community for election officials in similarly sized peer jurisdictions. To serve these officials, PLEJ aims to provide what it calls a community of practice for local election officials from across the United States. 17 PLEJ supports election officials in the process of administering elections, including voter registration, ballot creation, tabulation, poll worker engagement, voting location management, records management, and other roles. 18

Membership

As of October 2023, Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions membership cost $150. 19 PLEJ members must affirm a common set of standards for elections, be centered on voters, focus on optimizing voter participation, have impartiality, and be fully funded to participate in the partnership. 20

PLEJ members are invited to bi-annual, in-person membership meetings to grow their network with election administrators from across the country, 21 quarterly video calls with peer jurisdictions to exchange best practices, and invitations to group work sessions in the election administration community. Members are also given opportunities to exchange skills, engage in peer-to-peer mentoring, and given access to a membership directory. 22

Policy Positions

In September 2023, Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions co-signed a letter to members of Congress that was written by the left-of-center Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The letter calls for additional federal funding for election security in the United States, including modernizing voting equipment, changes to voting equipment, and other policies backed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Lab. Other left-of-center organizations co-signing this letter included AFL-CIO, All Voting is Local Action, American Federation of Teachers, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Blue Future, Brennan Center for Justice, Center for Popular Democracy, ranked-choice voting advocacy organization FairVote, Indivisible, League of Conservation Voters, NAACP, National Action Network, NextGen America, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Sierra Club, Verified Voting, and others. 23 24

In July 2023, PLEJ signed a separate letter organized by the Election Infrastructure Initiative, which is a project of the Center for Secure and Modern Elections (CSME) and Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL). The letter attacked Congressional Republicans for opposing additional federal funds for state and local elections. 25

Funding

Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions is sponsored by public sector software and service company Civix 26 and has received funding from the left-of-center Democracy Fund. 27

References

  1. “About.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/#about.
  2. “National and State Organizations and Local Elected Officials Support Federal Funding for Election Administration.” The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. September 28, 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://civilrights.org/resource/national-and-state-organizations-and-local-elected-officials-support-federal-funding-for-election-administration/.
  3. “Letter to Members of Congress.” League of Women Voters. September 28, 2023. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://www.lwv.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/Support%20Funding%20for%20Election%20Administration%20.pdf.
  4. “With House GOP Slashing Funds for Election Security, Senate FSGG Subcommittee Must Fully Fund State and Local Election Offices.” Stand Up America. July 12, 2023. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://standupamerica.com/2023/07/with-house-gop-slashing-funds-for-election-security-senate-fsgg-subcommittee-must-fully-fund-state-and-local-election-offices/.
  5. “Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/company/taketheplej/about/.
  6. “About.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/#about.
  7. Amis, Sara. “DeKalb prepares for this year’s elections while looking forward to next.” Decaturish. October 12, 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://decaturish.com/2023/10/dekalb-prepares-for-this-years-elections-while-looking-forward-to-next-year/.
  8. [1] “Who We Are.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/#who-we-are.
  9. “Experience.” Carolina Lopez LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinadlopez/details/experience.
  10. Election Workforce Advisory Council.” Bipartisan Policy Center. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/ewac/.
  11.  “AV Statement on Senate Vote on Freedom to Vote Act.” America Votes Press Statement. October 21, 2021. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://americavotes.org/av-statement-on-senate-vote-on-freedom-to-vote-act/.
  12. Barfield Berry, Deborah. “Voting rights activists are pushing to speak language of all voters. It’s not always English.” USA Today. February 27, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive March 8, 2024. https://archive.ph/bI3ni.
  13. “LWVFL Lunch and Learn Series.” League of Women Voters of Broward County. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://www.lwvbroward.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=869563&item_id=1403967.
  14. Meade, Erin. “New Council Will Cultivate a Resilient Elections Workforce.” Bipartisan Policy Center. October 18, 2023. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/press-release/elections-workforce-council-launch/.
  15. “Experience.” Carolina Lopez LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinadlopez/details/experience.
  16. “About.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/#about.
  17. “About.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/#about.
  18. “PLEJ Membership Document.” DeKalb County, Georgia Board of Registration and Elections Scheduled Meeting Minutes. October 12, 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/sites/default/files/users/user3597/BRE%20Packet-%2010.12.2023-%20FINAL.pdf.
  19. Amis, Sara. “DeKalb prepares for this year’s elections while looking forward to next.” Decaturish. October 12, 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://decaturish.com/2023/10/dekalb-prepares-for-this-years-elections-while-looking-forward-to-next-year/
  20. “About.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/#about.
  21. “LinkedIn Post. James Young LinkedIn Profile. Posted September 2023. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/james-young-124b3131_elections-networking-activity-7110387384273264640-VvVw/.
  22. “PLEJ Membership Document.” DeKalb County, Georgia Board of Registration and Elections Scheduled Meeting Minutes. October 12, 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/sites/default/files/users/user3597/BRE%20Packet-%2010.12.2023-%20FINAL.pdf.
  23. “National and State Organizations and Local Elected Officials Support Federal Funding for Election Administration.” The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. September 28, 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://civilrights.org/resource/national-and-state-organizations-and-local-elected-officials-support-federal-funding-for-election-administration/.
  24. “Letter to Members of Congress.” League of Women Voters. September 28, 2023. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://www.lwv.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/Support%20Funding%20for%20Election%20Administration%20.pdf.
  25. “With House GOP Slashing Funds for Election Security, Senate FSGG Subcommittee Must Fully Fund State and Local Election Offices.” Stand Up America. July 12, 2023. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://standupamerica.com/2023/07/with-house-gop-slashing-funds-for-election-security-senate-fsgg-subcommittee-must-fully-fund-state-and-local-election-offices/.
  26. [1] “Tweet.” Civix Twitter. Posted September 27, 2023. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://twitter.com/GoCivix/status/1707106467260567623.
  27. “Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://democracyfund.org/grant/partnership-for-large-election-jurisdictions-inc/.
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