August 2012
To the editor,
This week marks the 47th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination in voting and has been instrumental in ensuring citizens’ voting rights are protected from nefarious state election laws. Instead of celebrating, we have watched attempts to undermine this vital law in states across the country.
A meeting of the UN's Special Reprresentative to the Secretary General (SRSG) to Prevent Violence Against Children, Ms. Marta Santos Pais, her Special Assistant, Mr. Joost Koojmans, Director of UN Washington Office, Mr. Rodney Bent, and US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and his Senior Policy Advisor, Ms. Jodi B. Herman and the League's UN Observer, Ms.
Shortly after voter photo ID became law in Wisconsin, LWVWI, with funding support from LWVUS' Public Advocacy for Voter Protection project (PAVP), developed and implemented a Poll Observer program to help identify issues, collect relevant data and work to lessen the impact of photo id at the polls. Below you will find some useful tools and documents that you may use in putting together an observer program in your state. If you would like more information on this issue, please contact PAVP project Manager Tim O'Brien at TOBrien@lwv.org.
LWVUS sent a letter to the U.S. Senate asking Senators to vote for cloture on S. 3369, the DISCLOSE Act of 2012. The DISCLOSE Act is expected to come to the floor of the Senate on Monday, July 16.
When planning your own League's fundraising, please consult the LWVUS/EF Direct Marketing Schedule. The LWVUS Development Office is pleased to share with you the FY 2012-13 LWVUS/Education Fund Direct Marketing schedule for direct mail and telemarketing. Download the schedule below to share with your Development chairs to assist planning for your League's fundraising activities.
Questions should be directed to Rose Simmons, rsimmons@lwv.org.
TO: League Presidents
FROM: Mary G. Wilson, President
RE: Resorces for Leaders
On behalf of the LWVUS Board and staff, I would like to thank you for your dedication and commitment in furthering the mission and ideals of the League of Women Voters by serving as a League leader. We are pleased to share with you several tools to assist you in your leadership role, and we hope that you will share these with other leaders in your League.
While League has always been more than a “women’s organization,” our founding and our history make it only natural that we should acknowledge and mark certain milestones for women. This document contains a list of suggested activities that Leagues could implement anytime, but might be planned around one of these milestones as the “hook” to spark wider interest.
Recommended Milestones:
A new publication from the League of Women Voters Education Fund, "From Theory to Practice: A Grassroots Education Campaign," shares lessons learned by the state and local Leagues in Kansas and South Carolina that participated in "Safeguarding Democracy: Quest for a More Diverse Judiciary" from 2009-2012.
Convention 2012 delegates approved each of the proposed LWVUS bylaws amendments presented to them. The bylaws as amended appear at http://www.lwv.org/content/bylaws-and-certificate-incorporation.
LWVFL and Brennan Center sent a letter to the FL Secretary of State outlining in greater depth the problems with Florida’s illegal systematic purge.