Would you like to have a yard sign that promotes easy online voter registration?

You can for the low, low price of $20! Just go online to our website and donate $20 to LWV OPRF and a yard sign will be delivered to your house. The QR code on the sign takes you to the Illinois State Board of Elections where you can check your registration or register to vote. This is a great League advertising and educational tool to spread the word about voting in the upcoming election. Order yours today!

In addition to a yard sign, if you would like to help register citizens in person, check out the list here for upcoming voter registration events. You can help as a Deputy Registrar or just a Leaguer who passes out palm cards with voter information on it. More dates are being added daily, so keep checking the list! Contact Peggy Kell with any questions or dates of local events that we can include on our voter registration calendar.

This year, the negotiations and debate over the Illinois budget were incredibly difficult. It took several tries for legislators to reach the 60 votes needed to approve more than $1.1 billion in revenue increases, including a tax hike on sportsbooks and businesses, to balance the $53.1 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2025. The LWV supported the new (and we hope it will be increased) child tax credit, Evidence Based Funding for our schools and other important social services, etc. We recognized that finding new revenue sources was a critical component of getting a balanced budget passed. We urge LWV members to contact (email or call) the IL legislators who voted in favor of the 2025 fiscal budget to thank them for their support. It is important for these legislators to hear that voters are glad this legislation and budget was passed.  Contact your legislators today!

Here is a link to show how your legislators voted and links to thank them.

Senate President Don Harmon (39th District) 

Speaker of the House Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch (7th District) 

Representative Camille Y. Lilly (78th District) 

Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford (4th District)

Representative LaShawn K. Ford (8th District)

Does the First Amendment allow U.S. government officials to intervene and prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms? Jill Wine-Banks, the distinguished attorney and MSNBC Legal Analyst, will join us to speak about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent action on social media censorship. Join the online presentation on Tuesday, August 27, 7:00pm to hear more. Register here. This program will not be recorded for later viewing.

Recently, Kamala Harris was quoted as saying that she is a candidate for president because “Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate." This video was shared on X (formerly Twitter) to millions of people. NewsGuard, which checks credibility of various news sites and social media, found 19 social

media accounts that suggested that Biden, having had COVID, was dead or close to death. And even when he resumed public appearances looking healthy, the sites still claimed that he was terminally ill or that this was a body double.

It is important to verify before we share. We need to question the content and share accurate information.

On Tuesday, September 24, 6:30pm at the Main Oak Park Library, the LWV OPRF Fall Kick-off will discuss the implications of mis/dis-information. The panel will include the leaders of the LWVIL mis/dis task force. Joining them will be Michael Spikes, Ph.D., lecturer and director of Teach for Chicago Journalism at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

We make important decisions based on what we hear on social media and in the news. When we are unable to distinguish between truth and mis/disinformation, it can cause confusion and misunderstandings, leaving a generalized sense that "you can't believe anything anymore." If you want to fight against this, report disinformation to this link at LWV IL when you see it.

We hope you have this on your calendar and are coming to celebrate with us!

LWVOPRF Centennial Gala!

October 20, 2024 at

19th Century Club

5:30pm Cocktails, Dinner, and Program

Tickets $100

Invitations to go out September 6

More details in next week's WIP

To volunteer at the Centennial, please email co-chair Joan Petertil

In case you haven't yet seen the news, Ranked Choice Voting for the Oak Park President and Trustees is officially on the ballot for this November! FairVote IL turned in 3,254 petition signatures on August 5, and it is now past the period for challenges. The work will now will be to educate citizens on how RCV would work in Oak Park so that they can make an educated decision on the ballot question. Remember, this is a binding referendum question.

For a second referendum question, The Illinois Redistricting Collaborative, including active engagement by the League of Women Voters of Illinois, has made two major drives to put a referendum on the Illinois ballot to establish an independent redistricting commission that would do a better job of drawing boundaries for both US Congressional Districts and Illinois legislative districts. Unfortunately, these efforts have been stymied by the Illinois legislature and the Illinois courts.  

However, it has been discovered that it is fairly easy to put an advisory referendum on a township ballot. The idea is that if enough townships successfully pass such advisory referendums, it would become impossible for the resisters to deny the will of the people. So at both the Oak Park and Proviso Townships' Annual meetings in April, the question “Should the State of Illinois adopt an independent citizens commission for federal and state redistricting process?" was put forth and approved by those in attendance as a non-binding referendum question to gauge public interest.

Every vote Yes on township ballots will help tell our local and state officials that this is what people want and will help us create fair maps for all. We will be working with CHANGE Illinois to further educate voters on this question also. Stay tuned!

The League's Observer Corps plays a key role in community education and engagement, helping their communities stay informed about decisions that impact them locally, while encouraging government transparency and accountability. Take the training on Thursday, September 12, at 1:00pm to become a trained Observer. Register here.

Have you paid your League dues? Go online or download a paper copy and send it in ASAP!

LWV Cook County August Newsletter

LWV UMRR August Newsletter

LWV IL August Newsletter

LWV US August 8 Update

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