Editor's Note: The Voter is now only in this online format. It is printable, clickable and will be available at LWVCDC.ORG | | |
Take a Tour of Summerseat Sept. 20, home of two signers of the Constitution
Join League of Women Voters members from our region to Celebrate Our Constitution on Saturday, Sept. 20, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. by touring Historic Summerseat, the home of two of the signers of our Constituion. Summerseat, also known as the George Clymer House and Thomas Barclay House, served as the Headquarters of General George Washington from December 8th to 14th, 1776.
This special League of Women Voters member only event serves to help commemorate Constitution Day and the signing of the U.S. Constitution by thirty-nine men on Sept. 17, 1787. This special day also recognizes all who are born in the U.S. or by naturalization that have become citizens!
Summerseat in Bucks County, PA is located at 130 Legion Avenue, Morrisville, PA. Carpool to save gas and enjoy conversations with fellow members!
A registration fee of $20.00 will cover the guided tour followed by a Wawa Hoagie lunch. Registration deadline is Wednesday, September 17 - Constitution Day.
Payment Options:
- Check (Payable to LWV Central Delaware County - bring on the day of the event
- Cash at the event venue
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Online via the LWV CDC DONATE BUTTON - CLICK HERE ($20.00)
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Back row, (left to righ) Stephanie Sun, Ralf Graves, Joan Duvall-Flynn, Jodine Mayberry
Front row, (left to right) Cathy Yungmann, Linda Carpenter, Anne Mosakowski, at the state LWV convention in Lancaster in June.
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What We Did This Summer
Usually the LWVCDC board steps back over the summer and just plans for the year ahead. But this summer, members and board members were very active: We went to the LWVPA Biennual Convention in Lancaster, we marched in the Delaware County Pride Parade in Media and we held a candlelight vigil at the Vote Now mural in Chester as part of the John Lewis Good Trouble Day of Action.
We also tabled at "No Kings" rallies where members participated as part of LWVUS' Unite and Rise 8.5 campaign to enlist 8.5 million Americans in efforts to resist the authoritarian leadership of our country. We're out there. You be too.
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Send Us Your Questions for the Council Council Candidates
The Delaware County League of Women Voters is holding Virtual Individual Candidate Interviews for the race for two seats on Delaware County Council. All the candidates are being invited. Those candidates who choose to participate will be interviewed on Zoom by a representative of the League of Women Voters.
The candidates are Democrats Richard Womack (incumbent) and Joanne Phillips and Republicans Brian Burke and LizPiazza. Use this LINK to to submit questions for the candidates.
We will compile your questions and use as many as possible during the interviews.
As soon as the interviews are posted, we will send you the links. Thanks for helping us Make Democracy Work!
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Retain the Judges Who Have Protected Our Voting Rights
This year's election is a local election where we elect our municipal and county officials and local judges. That's important. They're the ones who make the decisions that most immediately affect us.
This year's judicial retention election is equally important. The three Supreme Court justices up for retention voted to reapportion the congressional districts throughout the state in 2018 to even the playing field for Republican and Democratic candidates when the state Legislature refused.
They voted to preserve mail-in voting access, directed oil and gas royalties to conservation efforts, addressed the legal status of gig economy workers, and allowed a challenge to the state's education funding system to proceed to trial. In that trial, underfunded urban school districts won a landmark ruling requiring fairer state funding for all schools.
For these reasons, various regressive forces within the state are mounting a coordinated campaign to vote them out in the retention election, where they run without opponents or party labels for a 10-year term on the court. Many voters don't vote in retention elections. They need to this year. This PA Capital-Star article explains the controversy.
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Tune into Behind the Ballot Fireside Chat: PA Supreme Court Retention Elections is being held on Sept. 8, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Those who register can choose either to attend in-person or virtually. The in-person event is being held at Central High School, 1700 W Olney Ave., Philadelphia, PA (doors will open at 4:30 PM). For In Person CLICK HERE For Virtual CLICK HERE.
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Save the Date: Watch the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania's webinar panel discussion Sept. 25: Voting on Judges: Retention Elections and Information on Judicial Candidates. You'll be getting an email closer to the date, but you can see the full program description HERE and register HERE.
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Webinar: Write-in to Win: Becoming a Judge of Elections
Join the League of Women Voters of PA and the Committee of 70 to learn how to run for, win, and serve as Judge of Elections in your precinct. The webinar Write-in to Win: Becoming Judge of Elections in Your Precinct is on Wednesday, Sept. 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The Judge of Elections is a crucial position for ensuring that elections run smoothly, and yet there are hundreds of vacancies for Judges of Elections across the Commonwealth.
We need nonpartisan, pro-voter, pro-democracy Judges in our precincts. Consider becoming Judge of Elections in Your Precinct.
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September 16 is National Voter Registration Day
LWVCDC will be having several voter informationtabling events around National Voter Registration Day and throughout the fall to provide voters with registration and election information.
If you want to be part of this effort, please click HERE to see the events list on our website. If you would like to volunteer at any voter information event, email lwvcdc@gmail.com indicating your interest and a member of our Voter Service Team will contact you.
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Our League of Women Voters of Central Delaware County again this year will be participating in Boscov’s Friends Helping Friends shopping and fundraising event.
This event helps shoppers save money on the Friends Helping Friends Day Wednesday, Oct. 22, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., and also helps raise money for our League to support our programs, plus it gives our members an opportunity to share voting information.
Here’s how it works: You buy a shopping pass from the League of Women Voters of Central Delaware County for a $5 donation that goes 100% to our League and you use the pass all day on Wednesday, Oct. 22, to buy items in any Boscov's for 25% off each item in addition to the marked down sale price. You can also register for a $100 gift card.
To use the pass for online shopping on Oct. 22, call RoseMarie Lord at 610-722-5526 or Gloria Rabinowitz at 302-521-7743 for the code to use that day. You can buy a pass at our tables on the dates below or by mail. Send checks made out to LWVCDC to PO Box 131, Wallingford PA 19086.
We need volunteers to sell the shopping passes at tables at the Boscov's Granite Run Store, 1067 Baltimore Pike, Media PA on three pre-sale days (Thursdays, Sept. 11, Sept. 25, and Oct. 2) and on sale day, Wednesday, Oct. 22.
To volunteer to table CLICK HERE
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President's Message
The LWV is encouraging ALL members to become aware and join Unite & Rise 8.5, a new League initiative mobilizing communities to defend democracy, build power, and protect our freedoms.
Four Pillars of Unite and Rise 8.5 are:
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Legal & Policy Advocacy: Challenge unconstitutional actions through litigation, advocate for electoral integrity reforms at state and federal levels, fight voter suppression, and protect due process.
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Public Mobilization & Coalition Building: Turn out millions for quick activations and longer-planned activist campaigns, uplift local voices, and partner with grassroots, national, and international organizations.
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Civic Education & Engagement: Launch public awareness campaigns, expand voter registration and turnout efforts, host educational forums, connect policy to real-life impact, and equip people with tools to act.
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Democracy Resilience: Build lasting infrastructure to protect democratic values and institutions for the long haul.
The Campaign is Divided into Power Playbooks:
Be a part of the movement that turns momentum into meaningful change! To get Campaign updates and to add your voice CLICK HERE
To learn about our local efforts visit our Event Calendar CLICK HERE.
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Video of the Month: John Lewis Good Trouble Candlelight Vigil
We had about 50 people turn out in honor of the fifth anniversay of U.S. Rep. John Lewis' death for a candlelight vigil July 17 at the Vote Now mural in Chester. Below is the video of that event. Lewis fought for civil rights and voting rights all his life and liked to say of his advocay that he got into "good trouble."
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Citizen Naturalization Ceremony Sept. 10
Members from LWVCDC will be there to welcome dozens of new citizens when they take their oath of citizenship at the Delaware County Courthouse on Sept. 10. Once they have taken the oath, they can register to vote. The ceremony is not open to the public. The League is allowed to be there to encourage the new citizens to register and vote.
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New Members Meet and Greet - Sept. 25
If you joined the LWV of Central Delaware County after November of last year, you will soon receive an invitation to meet several of the officers and learn more about the League. The meeting will be at Linda Carpenter's home. If you're a new member and don't get your email invitation within the next two weeks, look in your spam folder or contact Judy Wertheimer at judywertheimer@comcast.net
| | | | New LWVCDC Member Inducted into PA Voter Hall of Fame | | While they were in Lancaster at the state LWV convention, several LWVCDC delegates took time out to go protest in a 'No Kings' rally June 14. Several hundred local people took part. | | U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon wore her Pride dress and county LWV President Roberta Winters wore her Ruth Bader Ginsberg costume for the Media Pride Parade on what was a rainy but fun day. | |  | LWVCDC was well-represented in the Media Pride Parade, June 1. The League adheres to the principle that diversity, equity and inclusion makes a better, stronger America. We won't abandon that. | | |
International Relations Study Group
This monthly in-person committee studies international issues. The September meeting is Sept. 9 at 12:30 p.m. at Joan Hazbun's home, 6 Michele Drive, Media.
The very timely topic will be Chapter 6 of the Great Decisions workbook, The Future of NATO and European Security.
For additional information email Joan Hazbun.
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Dating Mail-in Ballots—Does the 3rd Circuit Have the Last Word?
By Jodine Mayberry
Legislative Advocate
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit has ruled that a voter's failure to hand-write the date or writing the wrong date on a mail-in ballot envelope cannot be used to discard ballots. Some 4,500 ballots were discarded due to misdating by Pennsylvania county election boards in the 2024 election.
The court, whose jurisdiction includes Pennsylvania, found that the handwritten date is irrelevant and immaterial since all local election bureaus have digital records of when voters request mail-in ballots, when the bureaus send the ballots out and when they get them back.
In upholding a lower court decision by the Western District of Pennsylvania, the appeals court appears to be saying bad or missing dates should just be ignored and the ballots counted, but that is not clear. Previously some election bureaus notified voters to give them a chance to cure the error and some just discarded the ballots without notifying voters. The suit was brought by a voter who was not notified. You can read the opinion HERE.
The court concluded that while dating the envelope did impose a "minimal burden" on voters, requiring voters to meet that burden did not advance any of the state's interests - improving election administration efficiency, promoting "solemnity" or preventing fraud.
This may be the end of the line for this endlessly litigated issue. The defendants - the 67 county election boards and various Republican organizations - can ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, but it usually doesn't take appeals when the appellate court decision is unanimous and there's no dispute with any other circuit over the issue. The high court also tends to favor leaving the administation of elections to the individual states. Very few other states require dating their mail-in ballots.
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PO Box 131,
Wallingford, PA 19086
(610) 566 5474
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