The Voter from Volusia County

FEBRUARY | Your monthly connection to advocacy and action!

A message from our President

It seems as though the New Year just started, but we are well into 2026, and as usual, the League has a lot going on. Our Legislative Team just returned from LWVFL Lobby Days in Tallahassee, where we met with our legislators. Our Education Team continues to visit and evaluate our schools, our Natural Resources team is working to help protect Volusia Forever, and our Voter Service Team has been doing a stellar job at registering voters and upcoming voters in our high schools. Over 920 so far!!!

We continue to monitor all levels of government from our Observer Corps, covering cities and county, to our Legislative Team and Board Members staying on top of statewide developments in Tallahassee. If you would like to become engaged in any of these teams, please send us an email at mail@lwvvc.org. We hope to see you at our events in February Unknown Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement and the Mardi Gras dog parade in DeLand. See below for more information.

Nancy Vaughn

LWVVC President 2025 - 2027

Lobby Days 2026

Mary Anne Connors, Rice Wagner, Rep. Chase Tramont, Nancy Vaughn, and Val Bruneel.

Our legislative delegation: Val Bruneel, Mary Anne Connors, Rice Wagner, and Nancy Vaughn had a very informative and successful trip to Tallahassee on January 20th and 21st for Lobby Days. After training with other league members from across the state, we went to the statehouse to meet with our legislators. We met with Chase Tremont, Dist. 30, Sen. Tom Wright, Dist.8, Representative Bill Partington, Dist. 28, and legislative aide to Sen. Tom Leek, Victoria Laird. They all were welcoming and we discussed legislation each was sponsoring as well as our legislative priorities: Opposition to mid-decade redistricting; opposition to HB 991/SB 1334 (this bill would make proof of citizenship a requirement to vote (unnecessary); SB840/HB1465 (undermines home rule regarding infrastructural issues) Support for SB318 Education Scholarship (addresses financial accountability for charter/ home schooling). We greatly appreciate the time spent with our legislators and the opportunity to foster our relationships with them.

There was a lovely dinner given for all Lobby Days attendees, celebrating LWV Tallahassee’s 70th anniversary. The guest speaker was Pulitzer Prize-winning Mary Ellen Klas, a politics and policy columnist with Bloomberg News, formerly with The Miami Herald. She spoke about the precipice upon which our democracy is sitting. During the last election, voter turnout was poor. One in three eligible voters did not show up. It is imperative that people understand that they have a valuable place in our democracy and that their vote is critical to maintaining it.

Her suggestions: question power and ask why our elected officials are abdicating their role; citizen journalists need to investigate how well public officials are doing…and write about it; be a cheerleader for competitive elections; speak up about morally objective behaviors, and continue to educate voters and GET OUT THE VOTE.

Special thanks to the LWVFL team who put on one of the best-run Lobby Days in recent memory: Julia Cervantes, Operations/Project Manager, Ray Alcantara, Executive Director, Joey Arellano, Communications, Barbara Lanning, 1st VP, and Jessica Lowe-Minor, President.

The Year Ahead: Panel Discussion with Daytona NAACP

Board Member Pat Drago recently participated in a panel discussion at the monthly NAACP meeting focused on priorities for the year ahead and the 2026 elections. Fellow panelists included Daniel Fuqua; Marcus McCoy, Jr. of Equal Ground; Rev. Fuller of the Black Clergy Alliance; Rev. Earl Burney of VCAALC; and Gwen Azama Edwards representing Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and The Links.

The discussion was nonpartisan and emphasized concerns about voter engagement, community awareness of key issues, and strategies to mobilize voters.

During the panel, Drago outlined the League’s planned activities for 2026, including Vote411, candidate forums—with a particular focus on school board races in partnership with the NAACP and VCAALC—and a Speakers Bureau addressing constitutional amendments and voter registration.

A survey was conducted among the approximately 50 attendees. Education emerged as the top issue, followed by health care, housing, food security, and economic justice. The group plans to discuss collective approaches to addressing these priorities at the next meeting. Pictured above Pat Drago (left to right) and Gwen Azama Edwards.

Membership Matters

Olga Hernandez, Roster Management

One year ago, the League transitioned to a new way for members to join and renew. This standardized the policy of all Leagues across the country. Many of the glitches in the transition have been worked out, but not all. We are still a work in progress, but getting there. The online LWV Volusia roster can be reached at https://portal.lwv.org/ using the email address you gave us at the time of joining (which is your user name). If you need to change your email, let me know. I can help. All members were asked for a unique email, even if you had a joint email. We no longer have the ‘household member’ category. This is very important cause if you have multiple email addresses, you may not be able to look at your record and/or create a duplicate membership. If you don’t recall, I can look it up.

In the portal, you will find your membership expiration date. It is one year from when you joined or last paid renewal dues. I encourage you to note this date on your calendar so you are aware when to renew dues. Either way, you will get a notice 60 days before your due date, again at 30 days, and on your due date, and 45 days after expiration. If not renewed, you will automatically be dropped from the roster. All this communication will come via email, so pay attention to your inbox, but be aware that some of these emails are going to junk folders, so check there too.

Members who have been through this cycle noticed that your payment is divided into three parts. One goes to LWVUS, one to LWVFL, and one comes to our local League level. Sometimes credit cards don’t process this efficiently cause they flag it as bogus or duplicate. If that happens, you will be notified to complete your payment.

We appreciate your timely attention to renewal notices; it lessens everyone’s workload.

If possible, we encourage you to use an ACH (Automated Clearing House) from your bank account, this reduced the fees credit cards collect.

FEBRUARY PROGRAM

Mark Cooper’s presentation focuses on the unknown heroines of the Civil Rights Movement. He will highlight the stories of three or four women, most of whom were African American, with one who was white. While the audience may be familiar with one of these women, much of the information presented is likely to be new.

The presentation is designed to be a learning experience. Some of the material may be difficult to hear, but it is a powerful and appropriate topic for a meeting of the League of Women Voters. By sharing these often-overlooked stories, the program underscores the vital role women played in advancing civil rights and shaping the democratic principles the League continues to uphold.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Mark Cooper spent his formative years in Atlanta, where he became aware at a young age of the systemic injustices faced by African Americans during the Civil Rights era. He has spoken openly about the lasting sense of responsibility he carries for having witnessed that reality without taking action at the time. As an adult, he has sought to address that youthful silence by becoming deeply informed about the truth of the Civil Rights Movement and by working toward equality and justice for all people.

Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Indiana University and a law degree from the University of Georgia. He practiced law in Central Florida for more than 40 years before retiring in 2012.

While Mark does not claim to be an expert on the Civil Rights Movement, he brings a well-informed, reflective perspective shaped by lifelong study, professional experience, and a personal commitment to understanding and advancing civil rights.

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