Fall 2026 Legal Intern, Voting Rights Project

The ACLU seeks a Legal Intern in the Voting Rights Project of the ACLU’s National office in New York City or Washington D.C. This position may be remote or hybrid. This internship is course credit only.

Qualifying applicants must currently be matriculated legal students and must be based in the U.S. for the entire duration of the internship.

The ACLU Voting Rights Project was established in 1965 – the same year that the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) was enacted – and has litigated more than 400 cases since that time. Its mission is to build and defend an accessible, inclusive, and equitable democracy free from racial discrimination. We have three guiding principles: (1) all Americans should be eligible to vote; (2) voting should be free and easy; and (3) all people should count equally. The Project is litigation-focused, with active cases across the country, though it helps support legislative advocacy work and public education. The Voting Rights Project’s recent docket has included more than 40 lawsuits to protect voters during the 2020 and 2024 elections; a pair of recent cases in the Supreme Court challenging the last administration’s discriminatory census policies: Department of Commerce v. New York (successfully challenging an attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census) and Trump v. New York (challenging the exclusion of undocumented immigrants from the population count used to apportion the House of Representatives); challenges to voter purges and documentary proof of citizenship laws; challenges to other new legislation restricting voting rights in states like Georgia, Montana, and Texas; and challenges to unfair redistricting plans in states like Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Mississippi. The Project also helps support voting rights litigation brought by ACLU affiliates across the country. 

Interns provide critical support to our team in litigation and other forms of advocacy. In the recent past, interns have served as integral members on our teams doing election protection work and litigating redistricting and voter suppression cases; pushing back against the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census; working to prevent the Florida legislature from imposing financial barriers that would undermine voter-approved Amendment 4, which re-enfranchised many citizens with felony convictions; and helping to investigate and initiate redistricting litigation.

Interns will gain valuable experience by working with the team on a wide variety of issues. Responsibilities for interns may include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• Conduct legal research and analysis to support new and active litigation projects;
• Aid in drafting of legal memoranda, pleadings, affidavits, motions, and briefs;
• Draft and edit public education and non-litigation advocacy materials;
• Provide support and assistance to ACLU affiliates and cooperating attorneys;
• Potential to work closely with clients and participate in outreach with impacted communities, discovery, and trial practice.

The internship is open to students who are in law school who have completed their 1L year or are in an LLM program. Interns should possess the following:  

• Completion of 1L year of law school by spring 2026 or enrollment in an LLM program
• Excellent research skills, including conducting internet and legal database research
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and writing
• Attention to detail and excellent organizing and time-management skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
• The initiative to see projects through to completion
• Demonstrated commitment to public interest law, civil liberties, and racial justice
• Demonstrated ability to conduct complex legal analysis and fact finding

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts

• Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of remote or hybrid intern positions. This internship can be remote or hybrid and based in our New York City or Washington D.C. office.
• Time Commitment: This internship may be part-time (10,15 or 20 hours/week) 
• Internship Duration: Spring internships span 12 consecutive weeks for part-time with a start date of September 8 or September 21.
• Stipend: This internship is course credit only. This internship must be tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.

While there is a priority deadline, our project is committed to reviewing all applications on a rolling basis until the closing of posting.

Your cover letter should discuss your qualifications and your commitment to racial and social justice.

If you are selected for an interview, we may request a legal writing sample. You may optionally submit a writing sample alongside your cover letter.

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.