Voting Rights Task Force

• Together with co-counsel, our Washington Voting Rights Lawsuit challenges alleged discrimination against Latino voters in Benton, Yakima and Chelan counties. According to a report by Investigate West, voters with Spanish surnames in those counties have been much more likely to have their mail-in ballots rejected during a signature matching process compared to non-Latino voters’ ballots.
• Gibbs Law Group submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equity, outlining the history of racism toward immigrants in Washington State, and that history’s implications regarding a law that allegedly threatened their right to participate in political activity.

To support firmwide involvement in voter protection efforts, Gibbs Law Group recognizes Election Day as a firm holiday and allows staff to bill hours to initiatives identified by the Voting Rights Task Force, including volunteer work with nonprofit organizations. Recent work includes:

• Research support for state-by-state voter registration guides
• Issue-based letter writing to workers to encourage voting
• Outreach calls to Texas voters to provide guidance on obtaining required voter ID
• Voter registration and protection for significant elections, including the September 2021 recall election in California, the January 5, 2021 runoff elections in Georgia, and Election 2020

“It was inspiring to see poll workers and fellow poll watchers all come together, not to get people to vote in any particular way, but just to be pro-voting.”

—Gibbs Law Group attorney Kyla Gibboney, on volunteering in Election 2020 by participating in  poll observing during early voting in Clark County Nevada and Election Day in the Maricopa County “Boiler Room” in Arizona

The Voting Rights Task Force is honored to support projects led by VoteRiders, a national non-partisan, non-profit organization which provides information about voter ID requirements and helps ensure voters have access to proper ID to exercise their right to vote.

Amanda Karl

Amanda prosecutes a wide range of complex cases in employment law, consumer protection and other areas. Amanda currently serves on the Board of East Bay Community Law Center and has been honored as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers every year since 2018.