Problems voting? Contact Electionland

By: Robert Zullo - November 6, 2018 6:05 am

Morguefile.com

With Nov. 6 fast approaching, the Virginia Mercury is partnering with ProPublica’s Electionland collaborative journalism project to help shine a light on problems that might prevent people from voting.

That means we want to hear about long lines, registration problems, purged voter rolls, broken machines, voter intimidation and changed voting locations in Virginia.

Here’s how to send in tips:

SMS: Send the word VOTE, VOTA (for Spanish) or 投票 (for Chinese) to 81380 (standard text message rates apply).
WhatsApp: Send the word VOTE, VOTA (for Spanish) or 投票 (for Chinese) to 1-850-909-8683.
Facebook Messenger: Go to m.me/electionland.
Or you can use the online form at the end of this post.

In 2016, the Electionland coalition went through thousand of tips from a legal call center hotline, as well as thousands of text messages and social media posts.

Local journalists around the country reported 400 stories and helped bring attention to voting problems that were fixed before polls closed.

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Robert Zullo

Robert spent 13 years as a reporter and editor at weekly and daily newspapers before becoming editor of the Virginia Mercury in 2018. He was a staff writer and managing editor at Worrall Community Newspapers in Union, N.J., before spending five years in south Louisiana covering hurricanes, oil spills and Good Friday crawfish boils as a reporter and city editor for the The Courier and the Daily Comet newspapers in Houma and Thibodaux. He covered Richmond city hall for the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 2012 to 2013 and worked as a general assignment and city hall reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 2013 to 2016. He returned to Richmond in 2016 to cover energy, environment and transportation for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He grew up in Miami, Fla., and central New Jersey. A former waiter, armored car guard and appliance deliveryman, he is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. Contact him at [email protected]