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The arrival of spring in Tallahassee reminds me that every year there is still the possibility of new growth and beauty despite all that has come before. As many new challenges face the League this election year, we must continue to grow our organization, not just in membership, but in our impact.
In the midst of many voter-elimination laws (see articles below) our pro-voter messaging must be as pervasive as the spring pollen. We have a duty to ensure that all eligible residents of Leon County have the information needed to confidently cast their ballots in August and November. Despite immense challenges, we have a plan to make real change in our community.
The LWVT’s Candidate Forums will now have a broader reach as we partner with the newly formed Capital Region News Collaborative, which consists of our historic partners, WFSU and the Tallahassee Democrat, as well as WCTV, WTXL, Capital Outlook, and Tallahassee Reports.
Generous donations and grant dollars will fund new outreach projects in areas of Leon County with low voter turnout based on data from the Supervisor of Elections Office. We are strategizing with our partner organizations to support the local elections process. (To learn more about how elections are run in Leon County, please sign up for our tour of the SOE office on April 18th (more info below.))
All of this and more will be discussed at our Annual Business Meeting on April 25th (see below for more info and to purchase tickets.) I hope to see you there.
The LWVT’s work is only possible because of our volunteers. If you are looking for a new way to be involved during this election year, please fill out this short interest form.
In League,
| | Miriam Tellechea, LWVT Co-President | | |
Leon County Supervisor of Elections Tour
Saturday, April 18 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon
2990-1 Apalachee Parkway
Hear from our elections leaders how 132 precincts are managed, how votes are tabulated, audited, secured, and how you are protected at the polls. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for coffee and treats. The tour of the facility begins at 10:00 a.m.
The tour is free but registration is required. Click here to register or to see more information.
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Annual Business Meeting
Saturday, April 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Capital City Country Club
LWV Members will listen to a recap of the past year and vote on proposed leaders, budget, program, and bylaws for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Doors open at 10:00 a.m. for registration. The Business Meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by brunch and guest speaker LWV Florida President Jessica Lowe-Minor. Only members may vote during the business meeting; others may observe.
Tickets are $40, and may be purchased here. All current LWVT members should have received an email containing the documents pertaining to the annual meeting. Please reply to this email if you need a copy emailed to you.
| SAVE Legislation in Florida and Washington D.C. | | |
Florida’s effort to limit voting access, HR 991, was signed by the governor on April 1; the League of Women Voters of Florida and others immediately filed a federal lawsuit.
The Florida SAVE Act requires prospective voters, including those already registered who move or change their names, to have “evidence of citizenship” on file, such as a passport or birth certificate to register to vote or remain on the voter rolls. Thousands of Floridians don’t have ready access to these documents.
It also changes the list of photo identification options that voters can use at the polling place on Election Day, eliminating student IDs, retirement center and neighborhood IDs, as well as public assistance IDs. If the law stands, these changes will go into effect in January 2027.
The League argues that requiring documentary proof of citizenship violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by imposing unlawful burdens on the fundamental right to vote. Unlike some other documentary proof-of-citizenship laws, this one applies retroactively to currently registered voters, making it even likelier that eligible voters will be both wrongly prevented from registering and/or erroneously removed from the rolls.
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League partners in the suit include Common Cause, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Rising, Hispanic Federation and UnidosUS. Plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and Advancement Project.
Courts have repeatedly found that documentary proof-of-citizenship requirements disenfranchise eligible voters while doing little to address the virtually nonexistent problem of non-citizen voting. In 2016, Kansas enacted a similar law, which blocked more than 35,000 Kansans from registering to vote. It was struck down in 2018 for violating the National Voter Registration Act and the U.S. Constitution.
Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the law unlawful and block Florida officials from enforcing the documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement.
Meanwhile in Washington, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) has passed the House but has not yet been voted on by the Senate (although the Senate did vote down a key amendment from the bill last week). The Senate can bring back the bill when it returns in mid-April. If the Senate does not act on the bill, some measures from the SAVE Act might be included in a reconciliation package later this spring funding ICE and military spending for Iran. LWV members are encouraged to contact our Senators to express opposition to the SAVE Act.
On a related front, the League of Women Voters of the U.S. has filed suit in federal court challenging a March 31 presidential executive order concerning mail-in voting. The League argues that the action is an unconstitutional interference with the power of states to regulate elections.
| Carol Weissert, LWVT Co-President | | Update on Florida Mid-decade Redistricting | | The Legislative Special Session on Redistricting is scheduled for April 20 - 24. It will be the second special session this month following one to produce a 2026 - 2027 budget, a responsibility left unmet in the regular session that ended in March. The governor has also called for a third special session on property taxes. | | The League of Women Voters of Florida opposes the proposed mid-decade redistricting which flies in the face of our state constitution. In 2010, over 60 percent of voters passed an amendment that specifies congressional districts may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. The purpose of the 2026 redistricting seems to be exactly that— to increase the number of Republican Members of Congress— an apparent violation of our constitution. | | | LWVT members are encouraged to contact their state house and senate members to oppose redrawing congressional district lines in 2026. | | Carol Weissert, LWVT Co-President | | |
The world feels heavy right now— but that’s all the more reason to come together.
In challenging times, even small moments of kindness can spark real joy and remind us that we’re not alone.
Join the Positive Posse for a heart‑centered gathering focused on love, light, and human connection. For two hours on a Saturday, we show up to hold signs of light and love to lift the spirit of our community. No politics. No agendas. Just kindness.
Where: Thomasville & Village Square Blvd (the corner in front of Total Wine)
When: Saturday, April 18th, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Why: Because these times call for a little soul nourishment.
We’ll have signs available for you to choose from. If you’d like to bring your own, please keep the message rooted in love and light— no platforms, no politics. There are other places for those conversations; this space is solely peaceful and uplifting.
Most people who join once find themselves looking forward to the next time.
I truly hope you’ll be one of them.
| | Sabrina Hartley, Board of Directors | | Opportunity to Help Publish The Voter | |
Want to contribute to the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee? Here’s a great way: help publish The Voter every other month. The task is not onerous— copy is provided to you— but the opportunity to create an informative and even artistic product is priceless— at least to your fellow Leaguers.
You and another volunteer from the Communications Committee will each produce six issues with lots of help available for the new recruit. Please consider this position where you can provide a great service and have fun doing it. If you are interested, please contact Carol Weissert at cweissert@fsu.edu or Miriam Testasecca at miriambarfield@gmail.com.
| Reporting from the No Kings Rally | | The turnout and enthusiasm at the rally were great, and there were numerous League members present either as tabling volunteers, safety monitors, emcees, picture-takers, or regular participants. Regardless of turnout, it always is difficult to know whether the goals of a rally are accomplished. In part, this is because goals are often longer term and, in part, because different individuals have different goals. But it is safe to say that the LWVT was able to accomplish several things at the rally in addition to having a visible presence. | | Tabling volunteers, some of whom circulated, helped 5-6 people check the status of their voter registration, talked with roughly 20 people about the importance of notifying the Supervisor of Elections of their new Florida driver’s license or ID number (see footnote), helped roughly 10 people request vote-by-mail ballots, and provided to roughly 200 people the QR code for the petition to put a constitutional amendment on the 2028 ballot for Medicaid expansion in Florida. We also walked one person through the online voter registration system so he could update his registration with a new address. Given all this, we had great feelings of accomplishment in addition to enjoying the camaraderie. | Footnote: Anyone renewing or updating their Florida driver's license or ID since August 1, 2024 will receive a new license or ID number, which is intended to be more secure than prior numbers. Thus, it’s important to either directly notify the Supervisor of Elections when you get a new Florida license/ID number or complete an update of your voter registration using your new number. | | LWVT Voter Services Committee | | Results of Marathon Aid Station Contest | |
I am thrilled to announce that we have recaptured the title of Best Marathon Aid Station!!! We fell to second place one year but, thanks to our dedicated volunteers, that’s now ancient history.
Along with the title comes a prize of $500 which will be sent to the LWV of Florida’s Education Fund. There it will be kept until we need it for an educational purpose.
There is a reason it takes a while to count the votes. There were a total of almost 3,000 entries in the three different events. The events were the full marathon, a half-marathon, and a relay race. A total of ten aid stations were staffed but they were not all on every course, so not every runner went by every aid station. With some mystical mathematical manipulation, the runners’ votes were apportioned appropriately to the various aid stations.
In case you’re interested, below is a list of all of the aid stations that won prize money:
1st Place: League of Women Voters of Tallahassee, $500
2nd Place: FAMU Big Brother Little Brother, $300
3rd Place: FSU Medical Response Unit, $200
4th Place: Tallahassee Boys & Girls Club, $100
Best Marathon Only Aid Station: Florida Trail Association, $250
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Our volunteers played an enormous role in this achievement and they deserve our thanks for their dedication and willingness to brave the cold in the early morning hours. But we all enjoyed it and I hope those of you who haven’t experienced the Marathon will join us next year!
Speaking of experiencing the Marathon, we were privileged to cheer for Jessica Lowe-Minor, member of LWVTallahassee and President of LWVFlorida who completed her very first marathon! Way to go, Jess!
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If you haven’t met our Board Member Jeanne Morse Lykes she has an interesting story to tell. Jeanne was born and raised in Poplarville, Mississippi and like many of us during the tumultuous 60’s, she became an advocate for fairness and equal rights. Jeanne had a mighty role model in her father – Dr. Joshua Marion Morse III, Esq., a man of the people who would win civil rights awards and peace prizes during a brilliant career as teacher and litigator.
In 1966 Jeanne’s father was the Dean of the University of Mississippi Law School. On March 18, 1966, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was invited to speak to the students at the University of Mississippi Law School, and he addressed a crowd of 6,000. Kennedy was controversial in Mississippi – there were protests in advance and during. Jeanne was with her parents that day listening to the Senator speak.
Dean Morse was also becoming controversial. An Ivy League man himself, he hired what were referred to as Ivy League Yankees to teach; and even began integrating the law school. In Mississippi! He had the audacity to invite Kennedy on campus. Jeanne still has the nasty letters/threats from the Board of Regents and other important Mississippians that began arriving. For a young woman that had to be a frightening time.
Three years later, in 1969, the Morse family moved to Tallahassee (another deep southern city fighting integration) where Dr. Morse became Dean of the FSU Law School. The first woman was admitted to the FSU Law School on his watch!
With this as a childhood backdrop, Jeanne got involved in the community at an early age; she began working on political campaigns before she was old enough to vote. She joined the League several times through the years and says the politics has been her life from working in Don Tucker’s office when he was Speaker to serving on the advance team for Vice President Joe Biden. She joined the LWV Tallahassee Board in 2025 as an elected director and has been nominated to serve as 2nd VP for 2026-27.
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Fast forward to March 18, 2026. The 60th anniversary of the infamous Bobby Kennedy speech was a big to-do in Oxford! Jeanne was invited by Dr. Fred Slabach, the current Dean of the Ole Miss Law School to join an illustrious panel, including Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, to share her memories and reflections as well as any conversations with her father about that time.
| Photo left to right: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Jeanne Morse Lykes | The panel provided Q&A following a Mary Blessey film titled You Asked for the Facts: Bobby Kennedy’s Speech. Initially nervous about going, she remarked afterward “it was a dream come true.” Jeanne saw footage of both her father Dean Morse and her mother from that day; and listened to accolades about a father who defied the traditions of segregation prevalent in Mississippi and exposed students to multiple viewpoints. “I stayed humbled and honored to be on the panels as we spoke to our experiences of those heated times in Mississippi.” | |
Every Month Leaguers Make History and Herstory
Do you have an interesting story to tell? As part of our 70th anniversary as a local chapter, all year we are sharing your stories as well as what we’ve uncovered in our archives. We will even help you write it! Details and a picture if you have one is all we need. Send to info@lwvtallahassee.org; add 70th History in the subject line.
| | Isabella J. Miletic, LWVT Board Member | | |
LWV educates and advocates for our Constitutional Democracy primarily through membership dues and donations. In other words, we could not do this work without you!
A sincere thank you to supporters Pat and Jane Dallet for their substantial donation; and to the following renewing members for donations to the general fund.
| | | Kris Ellington | Teri Cleeland | Susan Lunin | Barry Munroe | | Steve Urse | Brenda Thompson | Christine Reilly | Darwin Gamble | | | |
If you are interested in donating to either our education or general fund, please visit our website and select the large DONATE button in the banner for additional information about the funds and how to donate.
And if you are not yet a member, join us!
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Anne Newman, Treasurer
Trish Neely, Membership Chair
| | Welcome New Members! You make our work possible. | | |
Deborah Burr
Kathy Francis-Belovary
Lori Simpson Keller
Julia Smith
Rachel Webber
| | Local government calendars: | | | | |
