With the United States Presidential election less than two weeks away, it’s time to dust off a post from eight years ago and reacquaint everyone with the League of Women Voters.
Headquartered in Washington D.C., the League of Women Voters (LWV) was founded in 1920 by Carrie Champan Catt six months before the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified. You can take a deeper dive into their history and click this link to see photos of LWV through the decades.As they explain on their website, LWV “is a nonpartisan, grassroots nonprofit dedicated to empowering everyone to fully participate in our democracy” and their mission is "making democracy work”. One of the ways they do that is through protecting voters. This includes ensuring compliance with laws like the Voting Rights act, as well as modernizing voting systems and expanding both early voting and online voter registration.
Speaking of which, "The League is one of the nation's largest and most longstanding community based voter registration groups." Once they've got you registered, they can get you educated. The website Vote411 will populate with detailed information for elections in your area once you input your address.
You can also use this directory to find one of the more than 700 Leagues across the country to get information on issues affecting your city and state. For example the League of Women Voters Oakland, where I live, posts recordings of recent candidate forums as well as publishes an Easy Voter Guide for the California statewide initiatives. I'm very happy to have these resources to review!
There are active leagues in all 50 states and together they engage in advocacy, education, litigation, and organizing to protect every American’s freedom to vote. You can get the complete breakdown of their work here.
If you want to get involved in your community and play an active role in our democracy, consider joining the League of Women Voters as a member. You can also stay informed of their work by reading their blog and amplify their message on social media by following LWV on Facebook and Instagram.
If you haven’t already done so, use the League of Women Voters’ resources to study up on the issues and then get out and vote!