TODAY: League of Women Voters Launches ‘Unite and Rise 8.5’ Initiative

Washington, DC — Today, the League of Women Voters of the United States, a century-old nonpartisan organization, launched a powerful new initiative, Unite and Rise 8.5, which aims to engage and mobilize 8.5 million voters through advocacy, civic education, and community engagement. On April 17, 2025, Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, and Dianna Wynn, president of the League of Women Voters, took the serious step of labelling our current moment a constitutional crisis, and concurrently announced the Unite and Rise 8.5 initiative. 

“In first 100 days of the Trump administration, as our constitution and rule of law have been assailed, the democracy movement has been on the defensive,” said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States. “Today, that changes. Unite and Rise 8.5 embodies a proactive, positive vision of what America can be — something that anyone who cares about democracy, no matter their party affiliation, can participate in. More than 105 years ago, women of all political leanings fought together for the freedom to vote, and the unprecedented political moment we find ourselves in today demands we take action to lead a movement again.”  

Over the next year and a half, Unite and Rise 8.5, which expands the League’s existing power-building work, will encourage Americans to reinvigorate our civic life through education and engagement, public mobilization, partnership-building, and policy advocacy.  

Unite and Rise 8.5 builds on LWV’s pro-democracy actions of the past three months. For example, on April 30, League members from Washington DC, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia gathered at the US Capitol to meet with their representatives in a coordinated all-member lobby day to demand that Congress protect the rule of law, defend the Constitution, and end the overreach by the executive branch of government. 

To learn more and be part of the movement, check out our Unite and Rise 8.5 landing page. 

Background: LWV launched Unite and Rise 8.5 because our country is in a constitutional crisis — and it is up to all Americans, no matter their political leaning, to engage, mobilize, and push back against anti-democratic threats. 

According to Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth, 3.5 percent of a population can successfully pressure a government to accommodate their movement, leading to policy change. Approximately 245 million Americans were eligible to vote in the 2024 general election; 3.5 percent of these eligible voters is roughly 8.5 million voters. The League’s initiative will test the theory that it takes 3.5% of a population to protect democracies. 

The Unite and Rise 8.5 initiative is a part of LWV's Women Defend Democracy campaign.