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| Thursday, June 21 |
LWVMA Webinar on Convention and Transformation Roadmap propsoal, 4:00 p.m.
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| Thursday, June 28 |
Conversation on Redistricting, 8:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.
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Thursday, June 28-Sunday, July 1
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LWVUS Convention, Hilton Chicago
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| Friday, June 29 |
Convention Reception for Massachusetts Delegates, Room 4M, Hilton Chicago, 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.
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| Friday, July 20 |
LWVMA Online Voters' Guide Goes Live |
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Celebrate Video Contest Winners
Take a look at the winning videos from our "Get in the Game and Vote" student video contest
here
, and please post the
link
on your League's website and social media pages.
We celebrated the winners at a State House ceremony where state legislators joined us to salute the students and congratulate their parents and teachers. You can see photos from the event on our Facebook
page
.
Thanks to the over 250 students who participated and to the League members who helped judge the entries. As Jimmy Fallon told the graduating Parkland FL students, "You are not the future. You are the present. You are succeeding.... You are changing the world."
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Massachusetts at LWVMA Convention
LWVMA will hold two events for delegates to the national convention from Leagues in Massachusetts. The LWVUS convention is in Chicago June 28 to July 1.
Join LWVMA for a webinar to discuss what's coming up at Convention and the LWVUS Transformation Roadmap proposal on Thursday, June 21, at 4 p.m. You need to
register in advance for this webinar.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
At the convention itself, join LWVMA for a reception for Massachusetts delegates Friday, June 29, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Room 4M, Hilton Chicago. Meet and socialize with other League members from Massachusetts, and unwind from the first day of Convention.
All of the Convention information from LWVUS is located
here
, including the schedule and program and budget proposals.
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Schedule Your Ballot Question Study Consensus Meeting
The LWVMA study of the ballot question process in Massachusetts will be ready for local Leagues to hold consensus meetings from
Dec. 1 to Feb. 15.
The Ballot Question Study Committee's work in developing final consensus questions, study guide, and related materials is on schedule for fall distribution to local Leagues and members.
What should local Leagues do now?
- Form a local study committee.
- Schedule your consensus meetings after Dec. 1.
- Find the study webpage-it's easy. At lwvma.org, in the right sidebar under "Quick Links," click on "The LWVMA Study on the Massachusetts Ballot Question Process" or click here.
- See our local League flyer for information and advice. Distribute it at your membership meetings.
- Have questions or need help? Contact bqstudy@lwvma.org.
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You know you want one! Donate $50 or more to LWVMA or our Citizen Ed Fund before June 30 and we will send you our new "Democracy Is Not A Spectator Sport" bumper sticker. Plus your gift will be matched dollar for dollar up to $20,000. It's a win-win!
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The Sept. 4 state primary election is fast approaching. Many district-level races will be decided in this election because only one party has candidates vying for the position. Additionally, some incumbents are challenged in the primary race. Candidate forums conducted for these important district and county races will help voters understand where the candidates stand on issues and raise voter awareness for the state primary election. The primary candidates for state, district, and county races are posted on the Secretary of the Commonwealth website
here.
Many Local Leagues are planning forums for July and August. LWVMA encourages local Leagues to collaborate on candidate forums, particularly for Congressional, District Attorney, and Governor's Councilor races.
It is LWVMA policy that candidate forums for U.S. Senate and statewide offices will be organized by LWVMA. LWVMA would seek co-sponsorship with local Leagues for these candidate forums. Currently, we are exploring the opportunity to hold a candidate forum for the Secretary of the Commonwealth prior to the primary election.
Please let
Brynne Gorman know when your candidate forums will be, and we will post them on the LWVMA website.
The LWVMA
Voter Service Toolkit contains important information on how to organize and conduct candidate forums.
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Online Voters' Guide Update
The new LWVMA Online Voters' Guide for the Massachusetts primary is scheduled to go live July 20. Questions for the candidates and the promotion program to inform the public of the Voters' Guide are being developed. The candidates for state, district, and county offices will be included in the Voters' Guide. Promotional plans will be shared with local Leagues in July. Local League promotion of the Voters' Guide is critical to getting the word out for this important voter tool.
Many races this year have serious write-in candidates competing for seats. Our Voters' Guide will include these candidates and inform voters how to vote for a write-in candidate. Independent candidates will added to the guide after the state primary election.
In addition to candidate information, this Voters' Guide has features to help voters find their polling place, check their voter registration status, register to vote, make plans to vote, and send reminders to vote electronically.
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Legislature Coming Down to Wire
The formal part of the current session of the legislature ends July 31, and all bills that will become law must be passed by both the Senate and the House by that date!
Please check the Mass League Action Newsletter that you will get in early and mid-July for action you can still take to get the bills LWVMA supports across the finish line.
We particularly want to see
Automatic Voter Registration pass so that it can be in effect for the 2020 election. This bill,
H.4320, has strong support in both chambers. Take a minute and urge your state Representative to ask the Speaker to bring it to the floor for a vote before it's too late!
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Learn More about Redistricting
Even if you are not going to the national League Convention, you can participate in a live-streamed pre-Convention event:
Conversation on Redistricting
with
Ruth Greenwood
and
Nick Stephanopoulos
,
on Thursday, June 28, 8-9:30 p.m. Eastern time (7-8:30 p.m. Central time). Greenwood and Stephanopoulos
were co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the partisan gerrymandering case,
Gill v. Whitford
, that was just decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
This event is a great opportunity to host a viewing party for League members and others interested in this topic. You can
fill out this survey to receive more information from LWVUS on planning and hosting a party. No registration is needed to live-stream the presentation itself. Specific link information will be in the LWVUS League Update bulletin before the event.
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November Ballot Questions
LWVMA will be issuing its positions on the statewide ballot questions that will be on the November 2018 ballot once the Secretary of State has released the final list of ballot questions in mid-July. These positions will let local Leagues know which questions they can support or oppose as a League.
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Send LWVMA Your New Board Information
As your local League elects new Board leadership, please share the names, positions, and contact information of your 2018-19 Board members with Brynne Gorman so that your local League leaders receive the
League Leader Update (this monthly e- newsletter), League management information, reminders, and have access to leader tools.
If you are stepping down from a Board position but still want to receive the
League Leader Update, please let
Brynne know.
Finally,
LWVUS also puts out a news bulletin every other Thursday. You can sign up for the national League Update by filling out
this form
.
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Check Out Key Board Resources
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The League Leader Update is distributed to local League board members and LWVMA leaders. Anyone can request the Update by clicking here. Please review this Update for articles of interest to your League and include them in your local Bulletin.
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