Click Here to Register for

We Dissent: Reproductive Freedoms Lost & How to Take Them Back

Wednesday, 5/8, 4:00 PM - LWVMC Board Meeting

All are welcome! Click here to join the Board Meeting

Friday, 5/10, 8:30AM - Reproductive Rights Action Team Meeting. Click here to join the Reproductive Rights Action Team Meeting.

For more information, email Alice Newlon, Co-President

Monday, 5/13, 4:30 - Joint Government and Social Issues Action Teams Meeting (includes Gun Safety) Meeting will be covering government and gun safety programs and progress. We will have a special part of the program to discuss future plans for Social Issues as Chair Helen Andersen is moving. email Government Chair, Ginger McCallum or Social Issues Chair

Thursday, 5/16, 7:00PM Natural Resources Action Team Meeting - Click here to join the Natural Resources Team Meeting, email Natural Resources Co-Chair, Dawn Hallsten.

Tuesday, 5/21, 4:00PM - Education Action Team Meeting.   Click here to join the Education Action Team Meeting. For more information, email Education Chair, Merrie Lynn Parker.

Wednesday, 4/22, 5:00PM Voter Services Action Team Meeting - Click here to register for the Voter Services Team Meeting, email VS Chair Terri Kondos

High School Student Voter Outreach

by Terri Kondos

Over 40 high school students from Lakewood Ranch High School were registered or pre-registered to vote during a registration drive hosted by the school’s Civic Engagement Club. Social Studies teacher, Mr. Kyle Steinberg and Club President, Spencer, and several other club members invited LWVMC to team with them to hold the event. We started with a meeting with the club on 4 April where we learned about and applauded their initiative to launch the Civic Engagement Club at the school and shared with them what the League could do to support their first-ever voter registration drive. The following week, April 8-12, six League members tabled in pairs each day in the school cafeteria alongside Mr. Steinberg and the student club members, giving all LWRHS students the opportunity to register or pre-register to vote. 

Both the club and the League members were very happy with the success of this new event. Together we see many opportunities for the League and the Club to support one another in an ongoing partnership. The students can support us with our Youth Campaign and may be able to do volunteer hours at League community events. The League can support more voter registration drives at the school and provide speakers on election and voting topics for the club. 

Our League’s outreach to county high schools will continue on 28 April at Southeast High School, where League members, invited by a Social Studies teacher there, will run an in-classroom event during which they will enable students to register or pre-register to vote and/or check their registration status and explore their options for voting this fall to develop a personal plan. The classes will then walk through the offices up for election and the amendments on the ballot and participate in a straw poll or engage in a group mapping of their interests relevant to issues on the ballot. 

Dr. Deborah Turner, the 20th President of the League of Women Voters (US), declared 2024 as "The Year of the First-Time Voter" before her passing in January, 2024. We are so grateful to the dedicated county teachers and students for providing us awesome opportunities to realize Dr. Turner’s goals for “The Year of the First-Time Voter.” 

LWVMC at the Launch of Amendment 4 in Orlando

by Mary Conway

The ‘VOTE YES ON 4” Rally was a high energy event at the Walt Disney Amphitheater by beautiful Lake Eola. All the attendees were inspired to continue to support Amendment 4, Limit Government Interference in Abortion and end the 6 week abortion ban.

It was amazingly well organized rally with approximately 2,000 supporters in attendance. Florida and international (BBC) news media covered the event. While waiting for the program to begin, a large contingent of health care workers who marched in as a group and proceeded to, with bull horn, chanting and call and response which got us standing on our seats, waving our signs and chanting along. 

Many of us became emotional listening to the real life stories presented by both women and family members that had suffered loss due to a lack of needed health care. The presenters were from all walks of life and shared a variety of experiences.

The march around the lake was quite a sight to behold as the rally goers chanted and raised their signs in support of the right of all Florida women to be provided the health care they need and deserve. The energy was high and we all left with a heightened resolve to work even harder to make sure Florida voters “VOTE YES ON 4. “

Although there was an active group of counter protesters near the entrance and near the beginning of the march, the Police presence was strong and kept the rally goers safe. We are all grateful for the positive service they provided. We also owe a huge thank you to the LWV of Florida who provided refreshments, shirts and signs for league members at the SWAG station in the Orlando Library. And, of course, we owe a tremendous thank you to the organizers of this amazing event.

Counting the Homeless

by Judith Wellman

Like most of my neighbors, I had heard lots of stories about people experiencing homelessness. You have probably heard them, too: homelessness results from mental health issues, financial emergencies put families on the streets with no warning, many people are on drugs, some just do not want to work.

I decided I needed to know more about the reality of these stereotypes. Who better to ask than people who are themselves experiencing homelessness? So, when a LWV member made an offhand suggestion about signing up as a volunteer for the annual Point in Time survey of people experiencing homelessness, conducted locally by Turning Points, I thought, “Why not?”

The experience took me out of my comfort zone. It also opened my eyes to the wide variety of people experiencing homelessness, of all ages, genders, ethnicities, from many different backgrounds. No stereotypes applied. True, everyone was stressed. Some were angry. To my untrained eye, it looked as if some, indeed, had mental health or substance abuse issues. But the vast majority of people that I spoke to were ordinary people struggling against extraordinary odds. Take Alice, a month shy of her eightieth birthday. She had just been released from the hospital and had walked almost two miles to find a hot meal. She had no idea where she would sleep that night. “Do you have any work I can do?” she asked. “I don’t need money, just a place to stay.”

Or the family of four, whose husband, father, and bread winner had experienced a catastrophic illness. “We have money,” explained the Mom, “but we just cannot find any place to live.” For the time being, their home was their small car.

Or the woman who had no place to stay, and it was starting to rain. “How about the Salvation Army?” “It is full.” Or the young man in his twenties, living in a van with his three-year-old, not knowing where to turn for help. Or the elderly man with a walker who counted himself lucky to have found a pizza restaurant where he could keep the parking lot clean in exchange for food and a safe area to stay.

It also opened my heart to the real kindness of so many people experiencing homelessness. Turning Points is a lifeline for so many people, offering showers, medical help, clothes, and access to computers, phones, and help in navigating the system. Freedom Gathering, run by Tonia Johnson, Gail Chatfield, and many other wonderful volunteers, offers hot and delicious food every Wednesday behind Dollar General on 14^th Street to people experiencing homelessness. No one is turned away. The Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, with CEO Katie Ross, is leading local efforts in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.

Homelessness, locally as well as nationally, has reached crisis proportions. What can you do to help? Many local organizations are working hard on this issue. Here are a few: 

• LWV sub-committee on homelessness. If you’d like to join, contact Alice Newlon (anewlon@yahoo.com), Cynthia Watts (cynlynwatts@gmail.com), or Judith Wellman (historicalnewyork@me.com).
• Freedom Gathering. If you’d like to donate funds to support Freedom Gathering, contact Gail Chatfield (gailchatfield@aol.com).
• Turning Points welcomes donations of money or time. They are always in need of volunteers to do an incredible variety of tasks such as Food Stamp Assistance, Laundry Room, Bike Repair, Shower Monitor, Front Desk Assistant, Computer Lab Assistant, Donor Sorter, and more. If you or someone you know is interested, contact Tonya Kida at tkida@tpmanatee.org.
• News outlets. Stay up-to-date with news about the current Supreme Court decision (Grants Pass v. Johnson), Florida’s new law, and local efforts to deal with this situation. Urge local news outlets to continue to report on these issues.

It takes a village, as they say. Your voice can make a difference to so many people.

Maine Joins National Popular Vote

Maine Is 18th State to Join National Popular Vote

Maine has enacted the National Popular Vote Compact. 

Maine state senator Matt Pouliot (R-Kennebec), one of the bill's sponsors, said:

"It’s no surprise Mainers support electing the President in a system where every voter is treated equally and the candidate with the most votes is guaranteed to win. Making this change will strengthen our democracy."

Cong. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) said:

"I am so proud to see the Maine Legislature take this step to strengthen democracy. The National Popular Vote ensures one person = one vote."



Thanks to Maine, the National Popular Vote is now law in 18 states possessing 209 electoral votes, including

• 6 small states (Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, District of Columbia),
• 9 medium-sized states (Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington), and
• 3 big states (California, Illinois, New York).  

On the map, each square represents one electoral vote.

The National Popular Vote bill will take effect when enacted into law by states possessing 270 electoral votes (a majority of the 538 electoral votes).

So, we need an additional 61 electoral votes. The bill has passed one or more legislative chambers in 7 additional states possessing 74 electoral votes (Arkansas, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma)

LEARN MORE

• 9-minute video explaining National Popular Vote
• National Popular Vote home page
• Floridians for National Popular Vote
• LWVMC Hot Topics Presentation on National Popular Vote

A Conversation: Doctors Practicing in a Post-Roe World

Dr. Misa Perron-Burdick - was practicing in San Francisco, California, then moved to Boise, Idaho, two weeks before Roe was overturned. Dr. Marian Sampson, OB/GYN, works with Planned Parenthood of Southwest-Central Florida. Click Here to Watch the Video

Don't let the name fool you. EVERYONE is welcome.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy. We empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation, at the local, state, and national levels.