For over 104 years, the League of Women Voters (LWV) has been hard at work advocating for the importance of casting votes. With all the upcoming national, state, and local elections, the LWV looks to inform the community and support democracy.
The LWV is a national non-partisan organization with several leagues below it. The national U.S. league has state leagues with embedded city leagues, including our very own League of Women Voters Edina (LWVE).
LWV dates back to 1920 when the organization was founded by the suffragists of the National American Woman Suffrage Association to aid the 20 million women who had newfound voting responsibilities due to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Though the LWV has changed in the diversity of the organization by encompassing both men, women, and people of color today, the essence of the organization has remained the same: “We work to grow, empower, and protect the vote to make democracy work for all,” LWVE President Colleen Feige said.
One of the biggest things the LWVE does during election season is share candidate forums for our local elections. These forums typically contain around 20 questions where candidates answer and discuss what they feel is important. “We want to make sure that we’re protecting the candidates so they’re not being shish kebab-ed, and we want to make it so we can get at the information that’s of interest without having it be a personal attack and giving both candidates the option to answer those questions,” LWVE Outreach Co-Chair Christine Sweeney said.
Besides candidate forums, the LWVE does outreach at community events, like Edina High School’s Get Connected Day, where they encourage the community to vote or pre-register to vote. The LWV is also focused on educating the community through programs that talk about issues nationally and locally. The LWV also plans naturalization ceremonies where new citizens can take the oath of citizenship. Upon the ceremony’s conclusion, the organization helps them register to vote.
Through all of these events, the LWV hopes that the community sees the importance of individuals supporting democracy. “Democracy depends on all of us showing up and showing interest. We have a commitment as citizens to engage in making our community better. Part of that is through voting but part of that is also through caring and respectful conversations,” LWVE Vice President and Communications Chair Julie Rogers Bascom said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on November 4, 2024
