Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.

FALL "To Do" LIST

Most people join LWV because they want to ‘do something’ for our democracy and local civil society. As you read this edition of the VOTER, please look for ways you can ‘do something’ in the coming weeks.

Stop by our table on "No Kings Day II" in Ventura on October 18th.

Participate in “Food to the Polls’ as the League delivers treats, drinks and snacks to the 18 vote centers open during the November 4 election. This could be a good activity for the small Local Action Teams that are forming.

Be an Observer at a vote center to lend confidence to voters and election workers. This is a good first step for League members who want to work at a vote center in the 2026 elections.

Your participation as a League member includes learning about local, state and national issues so that you can share insights with other members and help the League be a community resource.

We look forward to all 'doing something' together.

Wednesday, October 1, 5:30 pm - League Happy Hour at Aloha Steakhouse, 364 S. California Street, Ventura, CA 93001 - RSVP to Matty Park. 

Saturday, October 4, 10:30 am - LWVVC General Meeting and lunch at Pleasant Valley Senior Center, 1605 E Burnley St., Camarillo, CA 93010 - Purchase Tickets

Featured speaker: Robert Hubbell

Monday, October 6, 10am - 12pm - Voter Reg Tabling - Rock the Vote at Ventura College Quad near bookstore - Contact Betsy Patterson if interested

Wednesday, October 8, 4-5 pm - Behind-the-Scenes of Elections: Short Film Screening and Panel with the League of Women Voters - Register for Zoom

Thursday, October 9, 4:00 pm - LWVVC Board Meeting on Zoom

Sunday, October 12, 4:00 pm - Housing and Homelessness Meeting on Zoom

Monday, October 13, 12:00 pm - Election Observer Training on Zoom

Tuesday, October 14 - Voter Reg Tabling - Re-entry Resource Fair at Center for Employment Training - CET Oxnard - Contact Betsy Patterson if interested

Wednesday, October 15, 5:30pm - League Happy Hour on Zoom - RSVP to Kay Armstrong. 

Thursday, October 16, 4:00pm on Zoom - DEI and Social Justice Meeting

Saturday, October 18, 10am -1pm - No Kings Day II at Ventura County Govt Ctr

Sunday, October 19, 8:30am -4:30pm - Thousand Oaks Rotary Street Fair at North Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 - RSVP to Pat Pat Butler

Thursday, October 23, 3:00pm - Climate Change Committee

Saturday, November 1-4, 9am-5pm - Food to the Polls for the November 4 Election - Contact Matty Park

FROM LWVC

About California Proposition 50

 The California State League’s Easy Voter Guide is now available online. This guide provides useful information to help inform your vote in the upcoming special election.

The Ventura County League will soon receive printed copies of this Easy Voter Guide for distribution at events and venues around the county. See the Voter Services section for more about our local League's plans.

LWV California DOES NOT SUPPORT OR OPPOSE Governor Newsom's mid-cycle redistricting initiative. A core value of the League is to oppose gerrymandering, but it is also a core value to defend democracy and fight authoritarianism. Their full statement can be found on LWV California's website.

There's a lot happening in California - read all about it on the LWVC website.

LWVUS is joining No Kings II as a national partner on Saturday, Oct 18.

LWVUS has decided to become an official partner for this day of mobilization, to stand in solidarity with partners, and stand up against hate and authoritarianism. 

The League has consistently and boldly spoken up in the face of rising authoritarianism. This is an opportunity to put words into action and show up in defense of democracy and as an effective ally.

LWV Ventura County will have a table at the rally at the Ventura County Government Center on Saturday, October 18, from 10am - 1pm. If you are participating in the rally please stop by our table and say "hi" - we'd love to see our members there!  

Remember, if representing the League or wearing a LWV shirt (which we encourage), please create signs that address issues, not a specific person, participate in nonpartisan chants, and stay safe! 

Unite and Rise 8.5

Holding Power Accountable

Unite and Rise 8.5 consists of six phases, each with its own playbook.

Playbook 1 (May–July): “Shifting the Power Narrative” highlighted voices and stories from those most affected.

Playbook 2 (August - October): Holding Power Accountable 

As part of our effort to hold power accountable and to ensure free and fair elections for all citizens, we plan to have a strong league presence at voting centers during the coming election. We will wear our League shirts and Observer buttons. More information will be forthcoming. If you are interested in helping, please contact Pat Butler or Betti Mentzer. 

What you can do: Daily Democracy Practice - 31 Activities

Look for Playbook 3 coming soon…. 

Commit to Unite & Rise in the Fight for Democracy with LWV here: Unite and Rise 8.5: An Initiative to Defend Democracy | League of Women Voters

FROM LWVVC

LWVVC members are collaborating with other community groups

holding rallies and events around the county

Tabling at Labor Day Protest in Ventura on September 1st

Constitution Day at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley on September 6th

High School Voter Registration

Our league provided support for student-led voter registration

at Agoura High School

led by Youth Council member

Alex Alenbernd

Friday, Sept 26, 2025

Get informed & Get involved

Get informed:

The California State League’s Easy Voter Guide is now available online.

Our local League will soon receive printed copies of the Easy Voter Guide for distribution at events and venues around the county.

We will publish a recording of Prop 50 - Pros and Cons on our website by October 8th. Let your friends and family know about this helpful resource.

Get Involved:

Would you like to be an Election Observer for the upcoming Nov 4^th election, or future elections? Not sure but want to learn more about what being an observer entails?  An informational session will held on Monday October 13^th at noon.

Register in advance if you would like to attend.

Want to thank our election workers? Our league shows appreciation by delivering goody baskets to vote centers throughout the county during the four-day voting period beginning November 1st. We plan to visit all 17 vote centers across the county and, after the election, we'll provide lunch to the workers at the Elections Division office. This is an effort to thank the election workers, and also to spread the word about the League. If you would like to participate contact Matty Park.

For more information or questions please contact Kathy Morgan or Pat Essick

Making Democracy Accessible to the Next Generation

 Thank You to all Voter Registration Volunteers

To all the Wonderful League of Women Voters Ventura County Volunteers:

THANK YOU - for attending the refresher training before the beginning of our fall season.

THANK YOU - for signing up for schools and classes and helping with our voter education and registration project.

We are in the midst of all of the sign ups so our coordinators may be stressed. Please know that we appreciate all that they do to make these events happen - there is a LOT of coordination work that goes into this project across Ventura County. Sometimes we may forget to turn and say “thank you” to all the helpers in the classrooms - you are creating our community of volunteers and we truly need you and appreciate you.

Keep up the good work - and know that it does not go unrecognized even if we sometimes forget to tell you out loud. We also welcome any feedback and comments you would like to share. 

Registration Volunteer Opportunities this Month:

Oct 6 Voter Reg Tabling - Rock the Vote - Ventura College Quad near bookstore - 10am - 12pm: Get students registered, updated, informed, and ready to vote.

Contact me if interested.

Oct 14 Voter Reg Tabling - Re-entry Resource Fair - 1741 Fiske Pl, Oxnard -Voter registration and voting information for those newly released from prison. 

Contact me if interested.

Betsy Patterson

Co-Chair, LWVVC Voter Registration Committee

See a summary of accomplishments in our August 2025 report.

Community Outreach Committee (Tabling)

Did you see us at the Labor Day Protest at the Ventura County Government Center? 

Thanks to our volunteers, Kathy Morgan, Barbara Doyle, Doris Simmelink, and Cheryl Collart, who distributed information about the Electoral College, the SAVE Act, and circulated the CA Clean money Petition for fair elections.

We also joined in celebrating Constitution Day at the Reagan Library. 

Our volunteers, Marla Donley and Lillian Zelinski, were joined by Debra Bagley and Debbie Stills from the Links organization. 

Thank you everyone! 

Two events are coming up this month: 

• Saturday, October 18, 2025, 10:00am-1:00pm – No Kings Day II, Ventura Government Center, 800 Telephone Road, Ventura 
• Sunday, October 19, 2025, 9:00am-4:00pm - Thousand Oaks Rotary Street Fair. We will need lots of Volunteers for this, so save the date!

Please look for a SignUpGenius for this event, coming soon. 

Community Outreach Coordinator – Pat Butler – contact via email

California Fair Elections Act Passed the Assembly 59-20!!

SB 42 just passed the full CA Legislature 59–20! Now it goes to the governor’s desk for signature. 

This is our best chance to fight back against billionaires and wealthy special interests dominating politics by putting the California Fair Elections Act on the ballot to legalize public financing of campaigns everywhere in the state.  

California elections are drowning in billionaire cash — over $2.6 billion from just 150 people, much of it hidden. SB 42 is our shot to change that: it places the California Fair Elections Act on the November 2026 ballot, giving voters the chance to repeal the outdated ban on public campaign financing — and give good candidates a fighting chance against billionaires.  

LWVVC collected and submitted approximately 300 signatures for this campaign. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen.  

If you would like to help in future actions to get the California Fair Elections Act on the November 2026 ballot, please email Pat Butler.   

Tell your Senators to oppose the SAVE Act

This voter suppression bill is still awaiting action in the United States Senate. If you haven't already, let your Senators know what you think.

The House of Representatives passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act for the second time in April 2025.

The SAVE Act would require:

• citizenship documentation to register to vote even though voters in every state are already required to affirm or verify their citizenship status when registering, under penalty of perjury. 
• the name on your valid ID to match your birth certificate, but does not include a marriage certificate or proof of name change as acceptable documents to prove identity.

The Senate must reject this bill to prevent it from becoming law. 

The (SAVE) Act is a voter suppression bill.

For more information go here: Tell your Senators to oppose the SAVE Act | League of Women Voters

The LWVVC Observer Corps observes county and city meetings of governing boards and councils. 

Please reach out to Betti Mentzer if you are interested in becoming a part of the Observer Corps. You can participate as your time permits, and you will be providing a great service to other League members.

Dates for upcoming County Board of Supervisors meetings: October 14th and 21st.

The Scholarship Committee met on September 10th.

We recommended that:

• LWVVC grant $2000 for the scholarship at each of our three community colleges
• Our current scholarship requirements remain unchanged
• Liaisons to each school will be
• Moorpark College - Kay Armstrong
• Ventura College - Carol Lindberg
• Oxnard College - Doug and Jan Reaver

Jan and Doug were welcomed as new members.

Mary Bergen will maintain our records.

If anyone has questions about our meeting, or would like to join us, please contact Kay Armstrong.

And of course, scholarship donations, of any size, are very much appreciated!! 

DEI & Social Justice Committee

Meetings 3rd Thursday of the month, 4:00pm on Zoom

Contacts:

Kay Armstrong (Social Justice) or 

Laura Hernandez (DEI)

At our September 18 Meeting we were very pleased to welcome Santa Paula Police Chief Don Aguilar for an informative Q and A.

We had a wide ranging discussion, from how the Santa Paula Police Department (SPPD) is preparing its citizenry for ICE issues, to homelessness concerns.

The discussion was recorded and will be available soon on our website.

Please watch as Chief Aguilar explains the composition of ICE, the limitations on the police to act in certain situations, and also the willingness of the SPPD to respond to the community’s concerns.

At our October 23 Meeting we will be learning more about our county's probation department, and its concerns about ICE.

Please join us.

Laura and Kay

Welcome to our newest members:

• Camarillo - Chuck Karayan, Gary Zelinski and Barbara Murray
• Moorpark - Shelly Baltimore
• Ojai - Linda Ankney and Francine Nelson
• Thousand Oaks - Sharon Secor and Randall Edwards
• Ventura - Carol Hughes

Many thanks and gratitude to our members who have renewed their membership, and to those who have made an additional contribution toward the operating expenses of the LWVVC, and towards the scholarship fund. Your support is vital to our success.

~ LOCAL UNITS UPDATE ~

In the past month we've had several "kick-off" meetings and are scheduling more throughout the coming months.

Each meeting includes a seasoned member who can answer your questions about the League, but the discussion is open and welcoming—our main goal is getting to know each other and sharing ideas. Oak Park, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo/Somis, and Ventura all had successful meetings where local and national topics were discussed (I think the Thousand Oaks "Cool Girls" just had a great time!)

Look for upcoming meeting dates on the League's website calendar.

Oxnard/Port Hueneme and Ojai are setting up “kick-off” dates and locations in October, so look for announcements and invites to a meeting near you.

Doing something starts with belonging to something - so please join us, and invite someone new!

October 15th @ 5:30pm (3rd Wednesday), ON ZOOM

RSVP to Kay Armstrong.

Happy hour events are not just for new members – everyone is welcome, including guests. Join us for an informal conversation about all things LWVVC. Interested in becoming more involved in our mission of "Empowering Voters, Defending Democracy"? Then come, learn about what we're doing, and how you can help.

You don't have to be a League member to join us for happy hour. Come for five minutes, the whole hour or anywhere in between. We hope to see you there! You are welcome to attend either or both Happy Hours. Please register with the host in advance. 

If you would like to start an in-person Meet the Members in your area

please contact us



Participate in LWVUS and LWVC. Sign up for Updates and League Groups -

Open to all League Members

Join by signing in at: Join an Online Discussion Group and work with other leagues, LWV California staff and LWV US staff.

For all relevant news about the County of Ventura: https://www.ventura.org/

• View Board of Supervisor agendas, documents, broadcasts, and videos.

• Connect with County services.  

Why Renew or Join? Your membership supports our critical work in:

1. Voter education and registration
2. Advocacy for important local and state issues
3. Promoting civic engagement in Ventura County

How to Join or Renew? Visit the LWVVC website and select the Join/Renew link to access the membership portal - or just click the green button below.

Questions? Contact our membership team for assistance.

Donate 

Tax deductible donations may be made to:

•      General Fund

•      Scholarship Fund

•      Ann Gist Scholarship Fund  

•      Ann Gist Voter Education Fund

 OR make your check payable to LWVVC and send it to

P.O. Box 6786, Ventura, CA 93006

If you wish to donate in remembrance of someone, please include their name and a few lines about their life. Please specify the fund you want to support.

Thank you  

Raise Awareness of the League 

Email: info@lwvVenturaCounty.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LWVVenturaCounty  

Mailing Address: LWVVC, P.O. Box 6786, Ventura, CA 93006 

Phone Number: (805) 303-1476 

  Facebook: @lwvventuraco

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lwvofventura/

The League of Women Voters of Ventura County is a 501(c)3 organization.

All contributions are tax deductible.  

The League of Women Voters, a grassroots non-partisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

The League of Women Voters does not support or oppose candidates or political parties.