LWV Doubles Down on Our Commitment to Democracy

During the past year, voting rights have faced attacks on all fronts—everything from new anti-voter laws here in Kansas to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that uphold discriminatory voting policies nationwide.

LWV, which has been in the fight to expand and protect voting rights for more than 100 years, continues to defend democracy and empower voters at the local, state and national levels. Here’s just a slice: 

National

In July, LWVUS launched an initiative, Women Power Democracy, to focus our collective efforts to advance a stronger, more representative democracy. The four prongs of the initiative include countering mis- and disinformation to restore trust in our electoral system; increasing voter participation; protecting voting rights; and creating fair electoral maps. Read more about Women Power Democracy here.

“The attacks we have seen on voting rights since the last election constitute a threat to our republic like we haven’t seen in decades, which is why we are doubling down on our commitment to democracy,” Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States, said in a release.

State

In June, LWV of Kansas along with Loud Light, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center filed a lawsuit challenging two newly enacted laws in Kansas—House Bill 2183 and House Bill 2332—that interfere with Kansans’ voting, due process, and free speech and association rights.  

Two weeks later, they filed a motion for temporary injunction, asking the Shawnee County District Court to bar the state from enforcing its newly enacted “Voter Education Restriction.” The new law makes it a felony to engage in conduct that “gives the appearance of being an election official” or “that would cause another person to believe a person engaging in such conduct is an election official.” 

The court had not ruled on the motion before the law went into effect July 1. So Leagues statewide suspended voter registration efforts because of the threat of having volunteers criminally prosecuted under this anti-voting law. LWVJoCo canceled at least three voter registration events.

Local

Voter education and engagement as well as fair redistricting are top priorities for LWVJoCo. Here are a few of the ways we are acting on those priorities: 

• LWVJoCo, along with partners Mainstream Coalition, Advocacy and Awareness Group of Johnson County, Mid-America LBGT Chamber, ACLU of Kansas, Dotte Votes and Welcoming Wyandotte Coalition, hosted eight virtual candidate forums before the primary to educate voters in Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe and Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas. Members Marie Hernandez and Debbie Kitchin were key in making these happen. 

• Member Connie Taylor and the People Powered Fair Maps JoCo team plan to host at least six events in Johnson and Wyandotte counties to educate voters about the importance of redistricting before May 2022.

• Under the leadership of member Spencer Smith, LWVJoCo’s participation in Voter to Voter nearly doubled. 38 League members served as ambassadors in this highly effective get-out-the-vote initiative during the August primary.

• Vice President Janet Milkovich has put together an incredible lineup for our fall monthly meetings on public policy issues important to voters. In September, we will discuss the Electoral College and the National Popular Vote. In October, the topic is critical race theory. And in November, we’ll focus on how Kansas is managing its water resources. 

Amber Stenger

President

913-620-5172 | jocoleague@gmail.com

Johnson County Charter Commission – Why Do We Care?

The Charter Commission meets every 10 years to review the Home Rule Charter, which is part of what defines how our county is governed, for possible amendments. You can find the charter here, and it’s only nine pages long. The Charter Commission is meeting this year and will submit its report to the Board of County Commissioners in early 2022. The previous Charter Commission, 10 years ago, did not recommend any changes to the charter, but some important issues were discussed and could come up again, such as:

1. Partisan local elections – our local chapter favors non-partisan local elections;

2. Independence of certain boards – our local chapter supports independent, county-appointed boards for Mental Health, Library, and Parks and Recreation District, among others.

To quote the official position, “The League of Women Voters believes that efficient and economical government requires competent personnel, the clear assignment of responsibility, adequate financing and coordination among the different agencies and levels of government.” This is why we are observing the proceedings of the Charter Commission and reporting in the Observer section of this newsletter. You can follow along by accessing the public website https://charter.jocogov.org/

🔶  Free Student Memberships and Sponsored Memberships: In our efforts to make our League more inclusive, the board approved making student memberships free and sponsoring four non-student memberships during this year. This is in line with the state and national Leagues’ decisions to no longer charge for student members. A student is defined as any individual at least 16 years old who is registered full-time or part-time in a Kansas area academic institution (high-school, community college, college/graduate program, certificate program). The free student membership comes with the expectation that students will participate in Voter to Voter, our get-out-the-vote initiative. Those interested in the sponsored non-student memberships can contact us at membership@lwvjoco.org.

👀  Vote411.org: Our online voter information guide, Vote411.org, is now updated with information for Johnson and Wyandotte county candidate information. Please refer family and friends to this nonpartisan resource and promote it on your social media channels. 

🗳️ Candidate Forums: More than 650 people attended our eight candidate forums in July for races in Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe and Wyandotte County/KCK. Thank you to Marie Hernandez and Debbie Kitchin for orchestrating all of these voter information events along with partners Mainstream Coalition, Advocacy and Awareness Group of Johnson County, Mid-America LGBT Chamber, ACLU of Kansas, Dotte Votes and Safe and Welcoming Wyandotte County. If you missed them, watch recordings here.

✔️ New Board Appointments: The board appointed Ellen Miller to serve as director of development for this fiscal year. Among other board responsibilities, Ellen will be overseeing LWVJoCo’s application process for 501(c)3 status. The board also appointed Eileen Manza, membership co-chair, and Robyn Hart, voter services co-chair, to serve on the nominating committee. Thank you to Ellen, Eileen and Robyn for their continued commitment and dedication to our organization.

Stay Current: Read about the latest work of Leagues throughout the state in the latest issue of LWVK’s VOTER Notes newsletter.