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Person

Carolina Lopez

Nationality:

American
Occupation:

Executive Director of the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ)
Residence:

Miami, Florida

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Carolina Lopez is the executive director of the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ), a national network of election administrators from jurisdictions with a population of greater than 300,000. 1 2 From February 2009 to February 2017, Lopez was the deputy supervisor of elections for Miami-Dade County, Florida. 3 4

Lopez has supported various Biden administration policy priorities that would expand the federal government’s power over elections. 5 She has advocated for election ballots to be printed in languages other than English, 6 led national get-out-the-vote efforts for left-of-center America Votes, 7 and is a member of the center-left Bipartisan Policy Center and the consulting group The Elections Group’s Election Workforce Advocacy Council. 8

Career

Carolina Lopez is the executive director of the left-of-center Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ), a national network of election administrators that seek to develop best practices and peer-to-peer engagement across elected and appointed election officials in large election jurisdictions across the country. 9

In her role at PLEJ, Lopez builds stakeholder relationships to guide the organization’s legislative advocacy efforts, shape election clerk engagement, drive so-called election protection programs, and strengthen relationships among election officials in large election jurisdictions with a population of greater than 300,000. 10

Carolina Lopez previously worked in election administration and left-of-center coalition building for more than two decades. 11 Prior to joining PLEJ, Lopez worked in the Miami-Dade County, Florida, government from May 2004 until February 2017 in various election-related roles. From February 2009 to February 2017, she was the deputy supervisor of elections for Miami-Dade County. 12 She has also worked in other roles in which she has classified herself as a “democracy advocate” to shape legislative advocacy, coalition building, and other activities. 13 14

As of March 2024, Lopez is a member of the Election Workforce Advisory Council, which is organized by center-left Bipartisan Policy Center and center-left consulting group The Elections Group. The council works to leverage its members experience to build a talent pipeline of election workers, share institutional knowledge, and support election administration. 15

As of March 2024, Lopez also works as a campaign consultant and coalition consultant at A Concierge Life. From January 2021 to December 2022, she was the national voting rights director for left-of-center lobbying and get-out-the-vote activist organization group America Votes. She also worked as a Florida Elections Administration point with America Votes, where she engaged with election officials on election readiness and administration. 16

Policy Positions

Carolina Lopez supports various left-of-center voter policies. She has supported Biden administration policy priorities that would expand the federal government’s power over elections, including the Freedom to Vote Act. Lopez has advocated for election ballots to be printed in languages other than English 17 and attacked Republicans for opposing other Biden administration election-related priorities, including the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. 18

In February 2023, Lopez co-signed the foreword of the “Democracy Protection Playbook” with senior leaders from left-of-center election policy advocacy organizations Secure Democracy USA and the Institute for Responsive Government. This report aims to inform election activists in states that have what it calls “anti-voter legislatures” and claims that half of states work to make voting more difficult. 19

In 2021, Lopez spoke at an event in Florida that was hosted by left-of-center election advocacy organization All Voting Is Local that featured representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida and supported liberal positions on equitable voting access. 20

References

  1. “About Us.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/.
  2. “Carolina Lopez.” Bipartisan Policy Center. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/person/carolina-lopez/
  3. “Who We Are.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/#who-we-are.
  4. “Experience.” Carolina Lopez LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinadlopez/details/experience.
  5. “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/.
  6. 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.
  7. “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.
  8.  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/.
  9. “Carolina Lopez.” Bipartisan Policy Center. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/person/carolina-lopez/
  10. “About Us.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/.
  11. “Carolina Lopez.” Bipartisan Policy Center. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/person/carolina-lopez/
  12. “Carolina Lopez.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinadlopez/.
  13. “Who We Are.” Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://taketheplej.org/#who-we-are.
  14. “Experience.” Carolina Lopez LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinadlopez/details/experience.
  15. 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/.
  16. “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.
  17. 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.
  18. “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/.
  19. Hughey, Shanna Singh. “The Democracy Protection Playbook.” Democracy Playbook. February 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://democracyplaybook.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/DemocracyProtectionPlaybook_Feb2023.pdf.
  20. “Florida State Lawmakers and Voting Rights Advocates Preview 2021 Legislative Session, Urge Putting Voters First.” All Voting Is Local. February 9, 2021. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://allvotingislocal.org/media/florida-state-lawmakers-and-voting-rights-advocates-preview-2021-legislative-session-urge-putting-voters-first/.
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