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LWV Of Portland Area

Community Leaders

Margaret Balano, President

League ID

ME005

Stories from Around the State

The League of Women Voters Education Fund has registered, educated, and engaged young people through its Youth Voter Registration project since 2010. 

In January – June 2023, 86 Leagues hosted close to 1000 events and registered over 19,000 youth in high schools, community colleges, technical and vocational schools, and other youth-serving areas, like community and recreation centers. And that’s just the 86 Leagues mentioned — our 750+ Leagues nationwide did even more! 

Civic education and involvement are key to a healthy American democracy. Included are stories from states across the country about the importance of civic engagement and the work that they are doing to promote it. 

This blog highlights work in Florida, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

Almost 1 million immigrants became naturalized citizens in 2022, expanding the electorate significantly. During that time, 31 League volunteer teams across the country reported attending close to 800 naturalization ceremonies and registering over 37,000 New Americans to participate in our democracy — this represents just a small portion of our 750+ Leagues’ impact. 

AUGUSTA, Maine — More than 350,000 Maine voters could vote in primaries starting in a key 2024 election after lawmakers approved a bill to allow for semi-open primaries for presidential, congressional and legislative elections.

Figure skating has a long way to go to fully reckon with the intertwined ways that patriarchy, homophobia, and racism occur and the resulting harms done to athletes, from Olympic stars down to kids in the learn-to-skate program. It is a fiercely gendered sport, especially in pairs skating.

My pairs partner, Erica Rand, and I are challenging those binary gender norms. In doing so, we are also hoping to open up the sport we love to people of all genders and gender expressions.

Maine lawmakers pass several bills expanding access to voting.