THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS IS A NONPARTISAN, GRASSROOTS NONPROFIT

DEDICATED TO EMPOWERING EVERYONE TO FULLY PARTICIPATE IN OUR DEMOCRACY.

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Questions: contact membership@lwvsrq.org

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Following our Annual Meeting on April 17th, I want to take a minute to reflect on the incredible work done this past year by our board, committee and action team leaders (Ruth Brandwein, Joyce Fitzpatrick and Dr. Jill Lewis Spector) and team members, and all of our volunteers. As a result, LWVSRQ has become a reliable source for unbiased, nonpartisan, local election information.

Our Voter Services team, headed by Tracy Geannopulos and Kathy MacEachran has been out registering voters at dozens of events and locations throughout our community.
Our Advocacy (Vilia Johnson) and Events (Elena Vizvary and Debbie Blackwell) teams planned and executed a wide range of events which focused on areas of concern for Sarasota County voters. And they attended in record numbers!
We have re-launched our Speakers Bureau.
Bonnie Granatir is leading our Young Adult Engagement efforts which partners with local colleges and youth-serving organizations. This voter outreach is funded by a LWVFL grant.
Carol Hartz implemented a successful Leadership Empowerment series, with 12 participants.
Membership numbers and involvement have grown due to the tireless efforts of Rhonda Peters, our membership chairperson.
Our Vote411.org (Tracy Geannopulos) and Candidate Forum (Rhonda Peters) committees are selecting the most insightful questions to ask our candidates and planning our first ever primary candidate forum.
Nancy Morrison, who has done a stellar job improving our newsletters and action alerts, is working with Cherie Balan to update our website in time for the upcoming elections.

All of these League programs and services have generated significant local news coverage and our Facebook and Instagram followers are up. I could go on, but clearly it takes a village, and we could not have done all this without our incredible Board of Directors. A shout out to 1st VP Vilia Johnson, 2nd VP Rhonda Peters, Treasurer Marilyn Lucht, Secretary Brenda Griffiths, and elected board members Elena Vizvary, Bonnie Granatir, Nancy Morrison and Tracy Geannopulos.

The board is excited to announce that we have appointed four new board members; Joyce Fitzpatrick, who is returning for another year, Liz Barber, Cherie Balan and Debra Starr. Liz, Cherie and Debra all participated in our Empowerment program, and have already been working hard on a variety of projects.

We are grateful for the generous financial support of our Giving Challenge donors, the Sarasota Community and Patterson Foundations, and a generous grant from the CFSC Haskins Fund to fully underwrite our new website.

And wait! There's more! Watch for our soon to be released "Your Vote is Your Voice" bilingual, multi media get out the vote campaign!

In League,

Shawn Bartelt, President

VOTER EDUCATION

Your Vote is Your Voice

Just launching!

A multi media, bilingual campaign designed to reach every segment of our community. We intend to eliminate confusion regarding who can vote in the August Election and to provide voters with the information they need to register and renew their vote-by-mail status.

Request a Vote-By-Mail Ballot

LWVSRQ TO HOST CANDIDATE FORUMS

PRIOR TO AUGUST ELECTIONS

On April 8th, over 100 concerned citizens attended the League’s Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board Election Panel “Understanding the Issues” at the Selby Library. Many attendees expressed their desire to hear directly from the hospital board candidates prior to the primary election on August 20th. In response, the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County will hold their first ever Primary Election Candidate Forum. Each of our forums will be followed by a 30-minute "Candidate Meet & Greet" for those attending in person.

HOSPITAL BOARD PRIMARY CANDIDATE FORUM

THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2024

5:30-7:00PM

JACARANDA LIBRARY

4143 WOODMERE PARK BLVD

VENICE, FL 34293

SARASOTA SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION CANDIDATE FORUM

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2024

5:30 – 7:00 PM

JACARANDA LIBRARY

4143 WOODMERE PARK BLVD

VENICE, FL 34293

COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICT 1 CANDIDATE FORUM

(Potential Universal Primary Election)

MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024

5:30 - 7:00PM

SELBY LIBRARY

1331 FIRST ST

SARASOTA, FL 34236

Registration is required and will be available on our website after the June 14th candidate qualifying deadline.

In keeping with the educational mission of the League, here are voter guides specific to the Hospital and School Board elections.

The League of Women Voters of Sarasota County Educational Fund is

awarded a $5000 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County Haskins Fund to fully support the professional upgrade of lwvsrq.org.

Under Construction...

Finding the voter information you need will soon be easier with our newly designed website. Our volunteer and professional team are working diligently to get our "new and improved" lwvsrq.org up and running asap!

ADVOCACY

Successful Orlando Rally Kicks Off Yes on 4 Campaign!

More than 1,000 people attended the rally in Orlando on April 13th. The following Saturday, Planned Parenthood of Sarasota County held a local training session on how to effectively communicate when we speak to voters about Amendment 4.

The guiding principles are:

This must not be a partisan issue – we need members of both parties and independents to vote for the amendment in November.
The conversation should be framed as stop government interference in health choices rather than protecting the right to abortion.
It is a medical decision that patients and doctors should have the freedom to make without government interference.
Do not be distracted by attacking questions. Pivot back to shared values. Floridians should have the freedom to make these decisions.

Additional training meetings will be planned so watch the LWVSRQ calendar for dates.

UPCOMING EVENTS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024 6PM-7:15PM

Featuring Louis Virelli, Professor of Law at Stetson College of Law, and Alyssa Morrison, Reproductive Rights Justice Staff Attorney at Lawyers for Good Government.

These constitutional law experts will take us through an accelerated timeline of the federal and state events that restricted our reproductive freedoms and discuss where these freedoms may be headed next. While our panelist are legal experts, there’s no need for you to be an expert to attend. Please come prepared with questions to ask during the live Q&A or send questions in advance.

Send questions in advance here

June 27-June 30 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC

In-person and virtual delegates will have the opportunity to participate in our Convention Plenary and vote on our 2024 – 2026 Program, 2024 – 2026 budget, 2024 – 2026 LWVUS Board of Directors and Nominating Committee, and submitted bylaws amendments.

EVENTS RECAP

LWVSRQ Annual Meeting

Dr. Susan A. MacManus delivered a comprehensive and data driven political analysis of voting trends going into the all important 2024 election cycle. Since her presentation included so much in-depth and well researched information, Dr. MacManus agreed to share it with us. We will post a link when it becomes available.

On the business side...

Our 2024/2026 Slate of Officers and Board Members, 2024/2025 nominating committee and bylaw revisions were approved.

Thanks to our panelists!

State Representative Yvonne Hinson (D)
Florida State Director of PEN America Katie Blankenship
United Faculty of Florida representatives Jessica Magnani and Gregory McColm
Robert Allen of Robert Allen Law and a New College alumnus
Tampa Bay Young Republicans Executive Director Jake Hoffman.

The panel was moderated by LWVSRQ member and League of Women Voters of Florida 1st Vice President Dr. Jill Lewis-Spector and her co-chair for the statewide Education Action Team, Nancy Chism of the Collier County League.

Discussion topics among the highly diverse panelists included:

The changing value of college degrees, with a focus on the trend of companies reducing or eliminating bachelor's degree requirements.
The impact of legislation affecting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public institutions.
Governance and academic freedom, including a discussion on recent changes to New College of Florida.
Faculty retention and turnover in Florida's public universities and colleges.

A live streamed recording is available on LWVFL’s Facebook page.

VOTER SERVICES IN ACTION

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

BECOMING A MEMBER IS ONLY THE FIRST STEP!

VOTER SERVICES IS LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO HAND OUT FLYERS AT FOOD BANKS, REGISTER VOTERS, ADDRESS POSTCARDS AND JOIN OUR SPEAKERS BUREAU.

VOTER SERVICES NOW MEETS MONTHLY VIA ZOOM. YOU CAN CHECK OUT CURRENT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES ON OUR WEBSITE. CONTACT KATHY McEACHRAN FOR MORE INFORMATION.

April was a busy month for our voter services team.

We addressed over 100 postcards to returning citizens, registered voters at three community events and distributed over 300 voter information flyers at two food banks.

And May promises to be busy as well!

Remember, our Voter Services Team now meets monthly via Zoom.

Join Our Voter Services Team!