During Volunteer month the Calhoun County LWVKA wishes to thank each of our members who have taken part in activities throughout the year. Our LWV presence in the county is becoming well known. Through your help we have gathered members, registered and educated local citizens, spread the word on the new election opportunities through Proposal 2, observed the Calhoun County Canvassing Board and recruited poll workers for the expanded election days, held tabling events and presentations, shared on partner boards and much more. With more member engagement we can keep Calhoun County connected

and informed. 

The Calhoun County Unit has kept active over the month of April. The Unit hosted a zoom webinar with Dr. Sarah McGraw, Assistant Professor of the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Dr. McGrew presented helpful strategies for sleuthing digital content. Recognizing that the internet has become one of the key resources for information, Sarah offered two strategies for being discerning readers: lateral reading and click restraint. Three critical questions to answer are: who is behind the information, what is the evidence offered and what do other sources say. Critical evaluation of material is crucial in these days, Watch for more information as we continue to share the resources. 

To complement our work on fact-checking, the speaker at the Unit’s annual meeting is Edward Visco, Executive Director of the Albion College Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Policy and Service. His topic is Civility and Elections: How to talk politics and stay friends! The annual meeting will be held on Thursday, May 23 at 5:30pm at the Marshall United Methodist Church. Following his speech the members will consider where we go as we move into the new League year. All members are strongly encouraged to attend.

In summary for the month of April, Lori Kline-Closson and Linda Smoot shared information with five classes (131 students) at Marshall High School on April 5. 68 students registered or registered online. 41 were already registered. 16 total paper registration forms were also processed. It was a great day and outcome. Lori is working with a Battle Creek Central Social Studies teacher sharing materials and potentially having a registration/information table for a Jocelyn Benson event in May.  

Linda Smoot is arranging for Marshall students to again serve as assistants to the election workers in the November election. In 2020 Marshall National Honor Society members worked for the Fredonia clerk. Marshall and Albion are now also interested. Calhoun’s VOTE 411 guide is published and available for the May 7th election where there are three districts with school issues on the ballot. Clerk Engagement Chair Susan Stuart will be working with ACLU and community partners to meet again with county clerks to hear their perspectives on the elections thus far with Proposal 2 in place, to see needs and to offer support.

The monthly Community Connect meeting hosted by Kellogg Community College again offered opportunities to support the non-partisan, non-profit community and to connect with community and college leaders interested in social justice and voting. Our KCC student volunteers completed their semester volunteer time with the Unit, having assisted with observation of the canvassing board and sharing their perspectives, sharing why youth should vote, and helping to distribute posters for the zoom webinar. Their interest and passion for the need to vote was sparked. Our KCC Graphics intern will be completing her internship with the Unit. She has produced many helpful projects that have been used by the Calhoun Unit and will be shared with LWVKA, LWV media and leaders. Many thanks are sent out to Rachelle Hawks for her work.

With difficulty procuring members to fill our vacant leadership positions, the board is working on a new management team model so that the Unit can move forward into the next League year. This will be presented to members and discussed at the annual meeting in May. Members are strongly encouraged to read The Voter and LWVMI League Links to stay abreast of the work of our Unit, our mentor Kalamazoo League, and the LWVMI and LWVUS. It takes all of us to preserve our democracy in these critical times.

The National Voter Registration Act was passed as a result of the work of the LWV who founded the Motor Voter Coalition. They campaigned to pass and implement the NVRA whose goal was to make the voter registration process more accessible. In the past thirty years millions of voters have been able to register. However, there have been challenges to the law and the League continues to monitor and fight those challenges

This committee’s next educational event will feature Dr. Sharon Gill of WMU, with the following presentation: Listening to Birds: Stories of Biodiversity Loss and Conservation Solutions

Please join us at the Keva Room, Friendship Village on Tuesday, May 14 at 7 p.m. 

The event is co-hosted by Kalamazoo Wild Ones.

The LWVKA is a co-sponsor of the Friday, May 3 screening of Troubled Water, at the Fetzer Center, 6 p.m. Please join us there! The event is free, but capacity is limited and each individual must RSVP separately and show your email confirmation for entry. Use this link to register.

Our event at WMU last month provided some new perspectives and was very educational. Attorneys Elizabeth “Joy” Guscott-Mueller and David Mueller presented an informative program on Climate Change: Impacts on Lake Michigan and Legal Updates. We appreciate their dedication in coming all the way from Illinois to share their knowledge and insight. We will follow with information on the recording when it is available.

Congratulations, Damaris and Cheng Kidd!

We look forward to seeing what you do next.