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Message from the President
As I begin my term as your president, I value your feedback and ask for your support. Don’t hesitate to contact me with any concerns.
Our theme for this year is Protecting Our Constitutional Voting Rights: A Key to Equality. Our Vice President for Programs, Diane Claiborne-Carr, has been busy all summer lining up programs and events on this theme. And our Public Policy Chair, Pat Sanford, has developed a plan of action for this, which she will announce at our upcoming meeting
In keeping with this theme, I want to highlight a member whose initiative in the area of expanding voting rights has been outstanding. Suzanne Benson, a past-president of AAUW and our current parliamentarian, has been an active deputy voter registrar since 2014. She was inspired by a presentation at our AAUW meeting by members Leslie Goddard and Mary Heye, describing their work for the organization Educators’ Voter Registration Initiative (which has since merged with Youth Do Vote.) Leaders of the organization contact high school administrations, offering to put on brief, non-partisan information sessions in selected classes. Member volunteers are assigned to speak to the classes and distribute voter registration cards. They explain who is eligible to vote and how to register to vote. After eligible students complete the cards, the volunteers check that the registration forms are completed correctly. They are re-checked by other members, then delivered to the office of the Bexar County Elections Coordinator.
Suzanne became one of the key volunteers, spending hours at the schools addressing successive classes. She soon realized that there are students in settings other than high school and college that should be given the information she could impart. Once she felt confident to stand in front of people and deliver the information about voter eligibility, and knew how to effectively explain certain points necessary to correctly complete the forms, she offered to register eligible students at the beauty school where she has her hair done. From there she branched out to other beauty schools, and took the trouble to speak to both daytime and evening cohorts.She also does voter registration at public libraries.
On her most successful day, Suzanne registered 60 people. And don’t forget, after every engagement she must deliver the checked and completed forms to the county elections office. The rule is that cards must be received by that office within five days of the date entered on the form by the registrant.
In her work, she has been inspired by meeting formerly-incarcerated citizens who were delighted to learn that their right to vote is restored once they have completed all the requirements of their sentence. Suzanne has come to the conclusion that all parole and probation officers should be required to tell those in their charge that they may register to vote after they have satisfied all parts of their sentence.
Suzanne also would like the public to realize how safe their votes are. “Ask any election judge,” she said. While registering voters, she has come to the conclusion that non-citizens are careful to avoid the registration table. Undoubtedly, they have no wish to encounter the penalties of illegal voting.
I asked Suzanne if she has concerns about our right to vote. She immediately replied that the SAVE Act will be an impediment to women registering to vote. Obtaining the required certificates to verify name changes is time-consuming and expensive. Each certificate costs money, so it becomes something like a poll tax.
When I asked what advice she has for us, Suzanne said, “Encourage your young relatives and everybody you know to vote.” And to register, they do not need a deputy voter registrar. Voter registration cards are available to any public library, and they may be mailed in by the individual who submits his or her own registration card.
Suzanne is a retired teacher; her last position was in special education at NEISD’s Garner Middle School. She is a graduate of UT and received her master’s degree at UTSA.
But she still teaches: as a docent at the San Antonio Holocaust Museum, she speaks to school classes about the propaganda campaigns of the 1930’s and 40’s. The museum is privileged to have someone with Suzanne’s breadth of experience in their teaching team, and our AAUW is proud to have a member with such dedication to the people.
Martha Steele
President
AAUW San Antonio
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