League of Women Voters explained

League of Women Voters of the United States
Type:Nonprofit
Location:Washington, D.C.
Focus:Political education and advocacy
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Dianna Wynn

The League of Women Voters (LWV) is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and advocating for voting rights. In addition, the LWV works with partners that share its positions and supports a variety of progressive public policy positions, including campaign finance reform, women's rights, health care reform, gun control.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

The League was founded as the successor to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, which had led the nationwide fight for women's suffrage. The initial goals of the League were to educate women to take part in the political process and to push forward legislation of interest to women. As a nonpartisan organization, an important part of its role in American politics has been to register and inform voters, but it also lobbies for issues of importance to its members, which are selected at its biennial conventions. Its effectiveness has been attributed to its policy of careful study and documentation of an issue before taking a position.[6] [7] [2] [8] Its bylaws do not allow it to endorse candidates or political parties. In the Trump era, the strong response by the league to political polarization and core issues such as voting rights has weakened support for it on the right.[9] [10]

Activities

VOTE411.org

VOTE411.org is a nonpartisan bilingual website in English and Spanish that allows voters to input their address and get candidate and election information tailored to their location.[11] [12] Candidate survey responses to three questions specific to the office are included on the site.[13] The League of Women Voters, including state and local leagues, runs the site which received a 2020 Webby Award.[14]

National Voter Registration Day

In 2012, LWV created National Voter Registration Day, a day when volunteers work to register voters and increase participation.[15]

Sponsoring debates

State and local leagues host candidate debates to provide candidates' positions at all levels of government.[16]

History

Founding

The League of Women Voters was created in 1920 as the merger of two existing organizations, the long-established National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Council of Women Voters (NCWV).

The founding goals of the National League of Women Voters were to educate women on election processes and lobby for favorable legislation on women's issues. These were the same as the goals of the NCWV, which had been founded by Emma Smith DeVoe after her proposal for such an organization was rebuffed at the 1909 National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) convention in Seattle. When her proposal was ignored, DeVoe founded the National Council of Women Voters in 1911. She recruited western suffragists and organizations to join the NCWV.[17] [18]

Ten years later, prior to the 1919 Convention of the NAWSA (in St. Louis, Missouri), Carrie Chapman Catt began negotiating with DeVoe to merge her organization with a new league that would be the successor to the NAWSA. Even though continuing as the NCWV might have made sense because the goals were essentially those that Catt proposed for the new organization, Catt was concerned that DeVoe's alignment with the more radical Alice Paul might discourage conservative women from joining it and thus proposed the formation of a new league. In founding the League of Women Voters, Catt sought to create a political process that was rational and issue-oriented, dominated by citizens, not politicians.[19] She feared that alliance with political parties would reduce the independence of these organizations and swallow up their concerns in more partisan concerns. In addition, by endorsing one candidate the organization would inevitably lose the support of the opposing candidate. As fifteen states had already ratified the 19th Amendment, the women wanted to move forward with a plan to educate women on the voting process and shepherd their participation.

A motion was made at the 1919 NAWSA convention to merge the two organizations into a successor, the National League of Women Voters. Although not all members of either organization were in favor of a merger, the merger was officially completed on January 6, 1920. For the first year the league operated as a committee of the NAWSA.[19] [20] [21] The formal organization of the League was drafted at the 1920 Convention held in Chicago.[22]

In her presidential address on March 24, 1919, at the above-mentioned NAWSA convention, Catt had said:

Carrie Chapman Catt was named honorary chairman of the League instead of president because she insisted that it was for younger and fresher women to lead the new work.[23]

As time passed, women's political organizations did find that political parties redefined issues of concern to them as "women's issues" and pushed them aside.[24]

Throughout the first part of its history, the League of Women Voters was not welcoming to women of color and its predecessor NAWSA ignored issues involving race due to fears that it would reduce support for equal suffrage.

In subsequent years, due to the increasing influence of women in politics, the league has evolved a more inclusive mission, to "protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy."[25]

1920–1930

The issues of primary concern to the League in the 1920s were extending the Sheppard-Towner Act first passed in 1921, a Child Labor Amendment to the Constitution, and voter education.

The Sheppard-Towner Act, first passed in 1921, provided federal subsidies to those states that provided education in maternity and infant care. It was initially slated for five years, and was twice extended in the 1920s, but finally failed to pass in 1929.[26]

On October 17, 1929, Belle Sherwin, the president of the League of Women Voters, and Ruth Morgan of New York City headed a delegation to ask President Herbert Hoover to support the renewal of Federal aid to the States in maternity and infancy work.[27] It Was later revived as part of the Social Security Act of 1935.

In 1923, a special committee of the national League of Women Voters picked twelve women as the "greatest living American women." They were Jane Addams, Cecilia Beaux, Annie Jump Cannon, Carrie Chapman Catt, Anna Botsford Comstock, Minnie Maddern Fiske, Louise Homer, Julia Lathrop, Florence Rena Sabin, M. Carey Thomas, Martha Van Rensselaer, and Edith Wharton.[28] [29]

At the 1926 convention of the national League, Belle Sherwin, the League president, emphasized education in politics as the right road toward true democracy.

Whether it is possible to develop in this country an education which will qualify citizens to be partners in government is a question to face squarely.

For many, education today is either remote and limited to a brief period or is highly specialized for vocational purposes. Education for active citizenship has hardly been tried.

She went on to mention "the modest attempts of schools here and there to teach critical reading of the newspapers and other means of avoiding mob-mindedness."Prohibition and birth control were hot issues that year, but were not included in the subjects for study and legislation during the ensuing year.[30]

In 1926, The New York League together with the Women's National Republican Club established information booths in seven department stores, explaining to women how to register to vote, and installed a voting machine at League headquarters to demonstrate how to vote. The League members explained literacy tests and requirements and hours for registration. A frequent question involved the status of an American woman married to an immigrant. The League also presented a series of pre-election talks, including a talk on "National and State Legislators," "The Judiciary," and "Machinery of Elections."[31]

At the 1929 convention of the League of Women Voters of New York, the members voted for a New York State prohibition enforcement act. They also voted to favor old age pensions and ask the Legislature to give women the right to do jury service, to permit physicians to give contraceptive information to married persons, and to extend the benefits of workmen's compensation for all occupational diseases.[32]

During the 1920s, the League of Women Voters of New York sent an annual questionnaire to candidates for local office, and published the answers in the publication "Information for Voters."[33] In 1929, the questionnaire covered maintaining the 5 cent subway fare, creation of a permanent city planning board, immediate action on a sewage and waste disposal plant, unlimited building heights in certain districts, and reclassification of civil service employees to provide automatic salary increases.[34]

In the 1930s, the League was supportive of New Deal programs such as Social Security and the Food and Drug Acts.[35] [36]

1940-1969

In 1945, the League advocated for the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, and was recognized by the UN as a permanent observer, giving it access to most meetings and relevant documentation.[37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]

In the 1950s, League member Dorothy Kenyon was attacked as a Communist by Joseph McCarthy and president Percy Maxim Lee testified before Congress against Senator Joseph McCarthy's abuse of congressional investigative powers.[44] [45] [46]

In 1960, the League supported the Resources and Conservation Act of 1960 (S. 2549), beginning a long history of environmental engagement.[47] [48] [49]

The league ultimately supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but their efforts came too late to have major impact.[50] After first refusing to oppose discrimination in housing in 1966, the 1968 program included opposition to discrimination in housing and support for presidential suffrage for citizens of Washington DC.[51]

In 1969, the League was one of the first organizations in the United States calling for normalizing relations with China.[52]

1970–2000

In the 1970s, after years of opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment as proposed by the National Women's Party,[53] the League offered support to an Equal Rights Amendment.[54] [55]

In 1974, the League began to admit men.[56] [57]

In 1975, a bill entitled "The Indian Law Enforcement Improvement Act" was introduced in the Senate and supported by the League of Women Voters of Nebraska, saying "We support self determination and therefore self government of all citizens, in this case Native Americans." After two days of hearings, the bill was not reported out of committee.[58]

The LWV sponsored the United States presidential debates in 1976, 1980 and 1984.[59] [60] On October 2, 1988, the LWV's 14 trustees voted unanimously to pull out of the debates, and on October 3 they issued a press release condemning the demands of the major candidates' campaigns. LWV President Nancy Neuman said that the debate format would "perpetrate a fraud on the American voter" and that the organization did not intend to "become an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public."[61] [62] All presidential debates since 1988 have been sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates,[63] a bipartisan organization run by the two major parties that some argue has established rules with the intent to exclude airing candidates associated with other parties.[64]

In 1998, the League elected its first African-American president, Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins.[65] [66] She served two terms, until 2002, and wrote a book "The untold story of women of color in the League of Women Voters" documenting the history of the League and women of color.

The League fought for the 1982 Amendments to the Voting Rights Act[67] and in the 1990s was important in the passage of National Voter Registration Act of 1993, popularly known as the Motor Voter Act.[68] [69] The act requires states to offer voter registration at all driver's license agencies, at social service agencies, and through the mail.[70] [71] [72] [73] [74]

2000–present

In 2002, the League supported the Help America Vote Act (with some reservations about the final compromise)[75] [76] and the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act.[77] [78] [79]

In 2014, the League sponsored voter guides including Smart Voter and Voter's Edge in collaboration with MapLight.[80]

In 2018, the league took an extraordinary step in opposing Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation due in part to his sexual assault allegations and fears around judicial independence.

In 2020, the League of Women Voters supported Native Americans in seeking to remove restrictions on ballot delivery from reservations.[81]

The Native American voting rights group Four Directions filed a suit on behalf of six voters from the Navajo Nation asking the court to extend the deadline for Arizona counties to receive the ballots of voters, because of "lack of home mail delivery, the need for language translation, lack of access to public transportation and lack of access to any vehicle." The court declined to extend the deadline due to lack of standing of the plaintiffs.[82]

The League of Women Voters of Arizona filed an amicus curiae, saying that

Most Arizonans take access to mail receipt and delivery as a given. By contrast, the District Court recognized the painful reality that "several variables make voting by mail difficult” for Native American voters. More specifically, “[m]ost Navajo Nation residents do not have access to standard mail service,” including home delivery, and must travel “lengthy distance[s]” to access postal services—a burden compounded by “socioeconomic factors.”[83]

In 2021, the League of Women Voters of Florida partnered with VoteRiders to get word out to eligible voters about the changes made due to Floria Senate Bill 90, signed into law in May 2021. The Florida League also partnered with the Black Voters Matter Fund and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans to file lawsuits against the changes. The trial court struck down multiple provisions of the law but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay reinstating the restrictive law.[84] [85]

After January 6, 2021, the leage called Trump a "tyrannical despot" and advocated his removal by an legal means. This, among other positions such as around transgender rights and police accountability, have led more Republicans to criticize the league and not respond to VOTE411 candidate surveys. Some republican states have been making voter registration more difficult, prompting the league to stop registering voters in Kansas, for example, for fear of its members facing prosecution. Richard Hasen argues that it would be tough to be seen as neutral when voting rights, a foundational issue for the leage, have become a seemingly partisan issue.

Policy views

The League lobbies for legislation at the national, state, and local levels. Positions on national issues are determined by decisions at the most recent national convention. Members of state and local leagues determine their leagues' positions on state and local issues, consistent with the national positions.

The League was founded by suffragists fighting for the right of women to vote and has always been concerned with issues around voting and representative government. Other issue areas in which the League currently advocates are international relations, natural resources, and social policy.

Voting and representative government

See also: Voter suppression in the United States and Democratic backsliding in the United States. In 1993, the League pushed for the adoption of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which requires states to offer voter registration at all driver's license agencies, at social service agencies, and through the mail.[70] [71] [72] [73] [74]

The League works with the non-partisan VoteRiders[86] organization to spread state-specific information on voter ID requirements. In 2002, the League endorsed passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which banned soft money in federal elections and made other reforms in campaign finance laws.[87] [88] It was also a major proponent of the Help America Vote Act.[89] [90]

In 2010, the League opposed the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which removed limits on corporate contributions to candidates.[91] [92] [93] It filed an amicus brief in support of the FEC.[94]

The League supports the DISCLOSE Act, which would provide for greater and faster public disclosure of campaign spending and combat the use of "dark money" in U.S. elections.[95]

The League currently opposes restrictive photo ID laws and supports campaign finance reform in the United States, including public financing of elections, restrictions on spending by candidates, and abolishing super-PACs.[96]

International relations

The League lobbied for the establishment of the United Nations, and later became one of the first groups to receive status as a nongovernmental organization with the U.N.[97] The League was active from the beginning in promoting world peace and international organizations.[98]

Natural resources

See also: League of Conservation Voters. The League supported the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Kyoto Protocol.[99] The League opposes the proposed Keystone Pipeline project.[100] In January 2013, the League of Women Voters in Hawaii urged President Obama to take action on climate change under the authority given him by the Clean Air Act of 1963.[101]

Social policy

The League opposes school vouchers.[102] In 1999, the League of Women Voters of Florida challenged a Florida law that allowed students to use school vouchers to attend other schools.[103]

The League supports universal health care and endorses both Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act.[104] [105]

The League supports the abolition of the death penalty.[106]

LGBT+ rights

LWV supports LGBT+ rights and has stated that "defending our democracy and ending discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community go hand in hand."[107] It has also supported the rights of transgender athletes.

Governance

National

A national board of directors consisting of four officers, eight elected directors, and not more than eight board-appointed directors, most of whom reside in the Metro Washington D.C. area, govern the League subject to the Bylaws of the League of Women Voters of the United States. The national board is elected at the national convention and sets position policy.[108]

State and local leagues

See also: League of Women Voters of Alabama, League of Women Voters of California and Missouri League of Women Voters.

See also: League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.

Local Leagues and state Leagues are organized in order to promote the purposes of the League and to take action on local and state governmental matters. These Leagues (chapters) have their own directors and officers. The national board may withdraw recognition from any state or local League for failure to fulfill recognition requirements.

The League of Women Voters has state and local leagues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Hong Kong.

See also

Further reading

Selected works published by the League of Women Voters

External links

Historical resources

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ford. Lynne. Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics. 2009. Infobase Publishing. 9781438110325. 280. The National League of Women Voters (NLWV) was established in 1920...Rather than directly entering electoral politics, the NLWV dedicated its efforts to educating newly enfranchised women, studying national legislation and social policy, and participating in local civic matters..
  2. Book: Sharer, Wendy B. Vote and Voice: Women's Organizations and Political Literacy, 1915–1930 . 13 March 2007 . Southern Illinois University Press . 9780809387687 . Anticipating the difficulty of integrating former suffragists into partisan American politics, Catt called for a successor organization to the NAWSA that would train new women voters in electoral procedures and further the interests of women within the platforms and administrative structures of political parties..
  3. Web site: League of Women Voters. Ballotpedia. 24 August 2022. The League of Women Voters' work includes get out the vote efforts, often shortened to GOTV. These are concerted efforts to register voters and increase voter turnout during elections. ... As part of their GOTV efforts, the League of Women Voters was designed to educate voters on the issues and candidates on their ballots during each election cycle. .
  4. News: . October 11, 1954 . The "Women Voters". The New York Times . October 9, 2022. The organization has won the respect of both political parties for its scrupulous nonpartisan-ship..
  5. News: Smith. Ethel B.. November 29, 1925 . Women working for new laws . The New York Times . October 4, 2022. The Women's Joint Congressional Committee is a well set up piece of machinery which functions for a combined membership of organized women numbering literally millions. Mrs. Maud Wood Park, then President of the National League of Women Voters, took the lead in carrying out the idea by calling the other women together to discuss it...the National League of Women Voters... was planned definitely as a non-partisan political organization of women..
  6. News: . June 1, 1969 . Women's league plans voter drive . The New York Times . October 4, 2022. Last summer, the league (in New York) registered 18,000 new voters in 80 communities where enrollment was below 30%..
  7. News: League of Voters Tackles 80s Issues. Green. Marie. 4 September 1983. The New York Times. 20 September 2022. The league from the national to the local level spends a lot of time on advocacy work. An issue is intensely studied -- for years sometimes -- and a consensus is reached among members. The league then discusses, urges, and "we lobby like crazy," according to Percy Lee Langstaff, president of the Connecticut League..
  8. Book: Cashin, Maria Hoyt . Sustaining the League of Women Voters in America . New Academia Publishing . 2013 . A look at the decline of civic engagement, and how nonpartisan organizations like the League of Women Voters can help save and promote democracy. . 9781955835237.
  9. Web site: O’Matz . Megan . 2022-08-18 . Republicans Turn Against the League of Women Voters . 2024-07-31 . ProPublica . en.
  10. Web site: 10 February 2021 . Remaining Nonpartisan in Hyper-partisan Times . 24 September 2022 . The League of Women Voters . The League’s advocacy work is issued based, and we arrive at our positions based on careful study and input from our members in communities across the country. We never derive our positions from politicians, and even when candidates or parties support the same issue, we never endorse them..
  11. Web site: Educating Voters using Vote411 . 2024-07-31 . WHYY . en-US.
  12. News: Letter: Check Vote411.org before going to the polls . 2018-07-06 . Journal & Courier . en.
  13. Vote411.org - Episode 3037 . en . PrimeTime - PBS . 2022 . 2024-07-31 . www.pbs.org.
  14. Web site: Peters . Jay . 2020-05-20 . Here are all the winners of the 2020 Webby Awards . 2024-07-31 . The Verge . en . Webby People’s Voice Award for Government & Civil Innovation: VOTE411 - Election Information You Need.
  15. Bouie . Jamelle . September 23, 2014 . Nothing to See Here . May 4, 2015 . Slate.
  16. News: Hageman . Hannah . League of Women Voters election debates coming up . 2018-07-06 . WHOP 1230 AM News Radio . en.
  17. Web site: National Council of Women Voters . Washingtonhistory.org . Washington State Historical Society . 5 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181123131009/http://www.washingtonhistory.org/research/whc/milestones/aftersuffrage/ncwv/ . 23 November 2018 . Tacoma, Washington . February 1, 1912.
  18. Book: DeAngelis, Therese . Women's Rights on the Frontier . 2014 . Mason Crest . Broomall, Pennsylvania . 978-1-4222-9352-2 . 67.
  19. Web site: Carrie Chapman Catt . May 4, 2015 . History.com.
  20. Book: Ross-Nazzal, Jennifer M. . Winning the West for Women: The Life of Suffragist Emma Smith DeVoe . 2011 . . Seattle, Washington . 978-0-295-99086-6 . 163–165.
  21. Book: Van Voris, Jacqueline . Carrie Chapman Catt: A Public Life . 1996 . Feminist Press at CUNY . New York. 978-1-55861-139-9 . 154.
  22. Book: Abbott, Virginia Clark . The History of Woman Suffrage and the League of Women Voters in Cuyahoga County, 1911–1945 . 1949 . League of Women Voters . Cleveland, Ohio . https://web.archive.org/web/20190205181521/http://teachingcleveland.org/history-of-woman-suffrage-and-league-of-women-voters-in-cuyahoga-county-1911-1945-by-virginia-clark-abbott/ . 5 February 2019 . 925432053 . 76.
  23. Book: Van Voris, Jacqueline. Carrie Chapman Catt: A Public Life. 1987. New York City. The Feminist Press, CUNY. 1-55861-139-8.
  24. Book: Fowler, Robert Booth . Carrie Catt: Feminist Politician . 1986 . Northeastern University Press . 0930350863 . Boston . 148–149.
  25. Web site: Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy. . 2022 . The League of Women Voters . 31 August 2022 .
  26. News: . 8 May 1921 . Saving Young Mothers . 2 October 2022 . The New York Times.
  27. News: . 18 October 1929 . Ask Hoover Support for Maternity Bill: League of Women Voters Group Urges Resumption of Federal Aid Program . The New York Times . 20 August 2022.
  28. News: . 6 May 1923 . Names 12 Greatest of Our Living Women . The New York Times . 30 August 2022.
  29. News: . 9 November 1924 . CHILD LABOR FOES CHOSEN BY VOTERS; Women's League Reports Large Percentage of Successful Candidates Favor Amendment . The New York Times . New York . 4 November 2023.
  30. News: . 17 April 1926 . Urges Education for True Citizens . The New York Times . 30 August 2022.
  31. News: . 6 October 1926 . Women Politicians Educating Sisters . The New York Times . 30 August 2022.
  32. News: 15 December 1929 . Women Voters Ask A State Dry Law . The New York Times . 30 August 2022.
  33. News: . 22 September 1927 . Sounds out candidates: League of Women Voters sends annual questionnaire . The New York Times . 30 August 2022.
  34. News: . 18 October 1929 . City Candidates Back 5-Cent Fare . The New York Times . 30 August 2022.
  35. Web site: . National Conference on Economic Security . October 3, 2022 . Social Security History . Social Security Administration . this was the first town-hall forum on Social Security in the nation's history..
  36. Book: Lamb, Ruth DeForest . Ruth deForest Lamb . American Chamber of Horrors: The Truth about Food and Drugs . 1936 . Farrar & Rinehart . New York . 320 . B00085GUZ6.
  37. News: . January 15, 1945 . Begin world peace drive . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  38. News: . March 28, 1945 . Connally defends League of Nations . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  39. News: . April 16, 1945 . Women plan drives backing conference . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  40. News: Reston . James B. . James B. Reston . July 12, 1945 . Charter attacked by 16 opponent at lively hearing . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  41. News: . March 14, 1985 . Asks quick assent on Bretton Woods . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  42. Book: Women's Suffrage: The Complete Guide to the Nineteenth Amendment . June 29, 2020 . ABC-CLIO . 9781440871993 . Wayne . Tiffany K. . 85.
  43. Book: Hernandez, Marcia . Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World . 2011 . Sage Reference . 9781412976855 . Stange . Mary Zeiss . Thousand Oaks, CA . 833–834 . Oyster . Carol K. . Sloan . Jane E..
  44. Web site: Percy Maxim Lee: a retrospective . The Free Library .
  45. Web site: MacEachern . Frank . January 25, 2011 . State League of Women Voters helps mold political process, leaders, say members . October 4, 2022 . greenwichtime.com . Greenwich Time . The league came under the scrutiny of Sen. Joseph McCarthy during Lee's tenure, when the senator searched for Communist infiltration of American government and organizations..
  46. News: Greenberg . Doris . April 27, 1950 . Civil Rights Issue Revived by Women . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times . Miss Dorothy Kenyon...was accused of having an affinity for Communist-front organizations by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy ...She later appeared at a hearing and challenged Senator McCarthy as an "unmitigated liar.".
  47. News: Oakes . John B. . John B. Oakes . June 3, 1956 . Conservation: Pollution control . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  48. News: Herbers . John . John Herbers . September 29, 1969 . Washington power shift . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  49. Book: U.S. Congress . Proposed Resources and Conservation Act of 1960: Hearings before the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Eighty-sixth Congress, Second Session, on S.2549, A bill to declare a national policy on conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources, and for other purposes . U.S. G.P.O . 1960 . Washington, D.C. . 103–121.
  50. Book: Jefferson-Jenkins, Carolyn . Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins . The untold story of women of color in the League of Women Voters . 2020 . Praeger . 9781440874505 . Santa Barbara CA.
  51. Web site: Carson . Chris . Kase . Virginia . 8 August 2018 . Facing Hard Truths About the League's Origin . 1 October 2022 . lwv.org . The League of Women Voters . The League was founded in 1920—just months before the ratification of the 19th Amendment—by American suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt. Catt was a complicated character, a political operative, and by modern standards, yes, racist..
  52. News: . April 27, 1969 . Women voters ask US for recognition of Communist China . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  53. News: . November 23, 1930 . 'Equal Rights' plan assailed as futile . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  54. News: . October 12, 1973 . League of Women Voters starts Equal Rights drive . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  55. News: . May 7, 1978 . League of Women Voters to spend 1 million in Equal Rights campaign . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  56. News: . May 8, 1974 . League of Women Voters votes to let men join it . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  57. News: . May 7, 1976 . It's still the League of 'Women' Voters . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times.
  58. Book: United States Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (Subcommittee on Indian Affairs) . United States Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs . 1975 . Indian Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 1975: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, First Session, on S. 2010 . Washington DC . US Government Printing Office . 701.
  59. News: Montopoli . Brian . October 15, 2012 . Do the debates unfairly shut out third parties? . May 4, 2015 . CBS News.
  60. October 14, 2012 . Everything you need to know about presidential debate history . 4 May 2015 . The Week.
  61. News: Shepard . Scott . October 3, 1988 . League of Women Voters Pulls Out of Presidential Debate . 4 May 2015 . Palm Beach Post.
  62. Flock . Elizabeth . September 21, 2012 . In a First, Debates Give Presidential Candidates the Topics Ahead Of Time . 4 May 2015 . U.S. News & World Report.
  63. News: Fain . Thom . 26 September 2016 . What is the Commission on Presidential Debates, and what do they do? . 29 September 2020 . . Springfield, Illinois . en.
  64. Web site: Brennan . Paul . June 25, 2021 . August 18, 2016 . Fact check: Are the presidential debates rigged in favor of major party candidates? . February 2, 2024 . .
  65. Web site: Pine . Candace . May 10, 2021 . Educator, Writer, Activist, Leader: Meet Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins . October 4, 2022 . Miami University . Dr. Jefferson-Jenkins has also been deeply involved with the League of Women Voters for many years. She was elected as the 15th national president of the League of Women Voters in 1998; the first woman of color to hold the position.
  66. Web site: Meakin . Kate . June 17, 2011 . Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins (1952-) . October 4, 2022 . BLACKPAST . In 1998 Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was elected the first African American President of the National League of Women Voters..
  67. Boyd . Thomas M. . Markman . Stephen J. . September 1, 1983 . The 1982 Amendments To The Voting Rights Act: A Legislative History . Washington and Lee Law Review . 40 . 4 . 1395–1396 . October 4, 2022.
  68. Web site: Clinton . William . 1993 . League of Women Voters: Motor Voter . October 4, 2022 . youtube.com . The League of Women Voters.
  69. News: Krauss . . Clifford . May 21, 1992 . Senate passes bill to force states to make voter registration easier . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times . A coalition of 60 voter and civil rights groups lobbied hard for the Senate measure with letter-writing and telephone campaigns. "Persistance has paid off," Susan S. Lederman, president of the League of Women Voters, said today..
  70. Book: Ford. Lynne. Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics. 2009. Infobase Publishing. 9781438110325. 280. registration.
  71. News: Voters League Marks Its 75th Year . Kate Stone . Lombardi . 14 November 1993 . The New York Times . 705 . 24 August 2022.
  72. News: Senate Passes Bill to Force States to Make Voter Registration Easie . Clifford . Krauss . 21 May 1992 . The New York Times . Section B, p. 11 .
  73. Web site: Honoring the 27th Anniversary of the National Voter Registration Act . Celina. Stuart. 20 May 2020. League of Women Voters. 24 August 2022.
  74. News: Clymer . Adam . Adam Clymer . May 12, 1993 . Voter Bill Passes In a G.O.P. Defeat. The New York Times . November 26, 2022.
  75. Web site: . 2022 . 100 Years of LWV . October 4, 2022 . The League of Women Voters . Working closely with a civil rights coalition, LWV helped draft and pass the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which established provisional balloting, requirements for updating voting systems, and the Election Assistance Commission..
  76. News: Pear . . Robert . October 5, 2002 . House and Senate Negotiators Agree on an Election Bill . October 4, 2022 . The New York Times . Lloyd J. Leonard, legislative director of the League of Women Voters of the United States, expressed doubts about the compromise..
  77. Web site: . 2014 . Money in Politics: Developing a Common Understanding of the Issues . October 4, 2022 . The League of Women Voters . It lobbied strongly for the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, cosponsored by Senators McCain and Feingold and passed in 2002..
  78. Web site: . 29 September 2013 . Position on Campaign Financing . October 4, 2022 . The League of Women Voters . On March 27, 2002, the League’s five-year campaign for the McCain-Feingold-Shays-Meehan bill reached fruition when the President signed the legislation into law..
  79. Armoudian . Maria . July 2018 . Where the Bucks Don't Stop: The Construction of Money as Speech and Its Effects . Australasian Journal of American Studies . 37 . 1 . 41 . 26532953 . October 4, 2022 . "good government" organizations such as Common Cause and The League of Women Voters of the United States argued ... to distinguish "unlimited speech" from "unlimited money.".
  80. News: Peterson . Karla . October 17, 2014 . Where to get info on candidates, issues in Nov. 4 election . May 4, 2015 . San Diego Union-Tribune.
  81. Web site: Full and Real Citizenship: Advancing Native American Voting Rights . . October 30, 2020 . The League of Women Voters . November 25, 2022 .
  82. Yazzie v. Hobbs . 977 . F.3d . 964,967 . United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit . 2020 . https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-ca9-20-16890/pdf/USCOURTS-ca9-20-16890-0.pdf . November 25, 2022 .
  83. Web site: Brief for League of Women Voters of Arizona as Amicus Curiae in Support of Appellant and Requesting Reversal . Donofrio . Michael . October 6, 2020 . Four Directions Inc. . November 25, 2022.
  84. News: Manna-Rea . Jorgelina . September 27, 2021 . League Of Women Voters Of Florida Challenges New Voting Law . WUSF Public Media . October 5, 2022.
  85. News: Timm . Jane C. . May 6, 2022 . Appeals court reinstates Florida's restrictive voting law . NBC News . October 5, 2022.
  86. Web site: VoteRiders Partner Organizations . . 2022 . VoteRiders . November 26, 2022.
  87. News: Curry. Tom. Why 'reform' equals more campaign spending. https://web.archive.org/web/20150505021157/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5758090/ns/politics-tom_curry/t/why-reform-equals-more-campaign-spending/#.VUfh52Yhwt8. dead. May 5, 2015. 4 May 2015. NBC News. August 19, 2004.
  88. Book: Malbin. Michael. Life After Reform: When the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Meets Politics. 2003. Rowman & Littlefield. 9780742528338. 29.
  89. News: Bill to Overhaul System of Voting is Seen in Danger. Pear. Robert. 7 September 2002. The New York Times. 18 August 2022.
  90. Web site: Help America Vote Act. US Election Assistance Commission. 19 August 2022.
  91. News: Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit. The New York Times. Adam . Liptak. 21 January 2010.
  92. News: Lefler. Dion. Voters group seeks city resolution against Citizens United decision. 4 May 2015. Wichita Eagle. July 17, 2012.
  93. News: MacNamara. Elisabeth. How the League Was Busy Making Democracy Work in 2014. 4 May 2015. Huffington Post. December 29, 2014.
  94. Citizens United v FEC. Scotusblog. 08-205. Brief amicus of The League of Women Voters. 9 September 2009. https://www.lwv.org/sites/default/files/Amicus_cfr.CitizenUnited.pdf.
  95. News: The League of Women Voters on the DISCLOSE Act. McNamara. Elisabeth. The Hill. 17 June 2010. 19 August 2022.
  96. News: Wilson. Megan. FEC deadlocked on 'dark money'. 6 May 2015. The Hill. February 11, 2015.
  97. Book: Zeiss Strange. Mary. Oyster. Carol. Sloan. Jane. Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World, Volume 1. 2011. SAGE Publications. 9781412976855. 833.
  98. News: . 13 April 1921 . Mrs. Catt Summons Women to End War . 29 August 2022 . The New York Times . Cleveland. "At the second League of Women Voters convention, in 1921, Carrie Chapman Catt spoke, and said: 'The people in this room tonight could put an end to war. There is no audience in the world that won't applaud him who talks of world peace. Everybody wants to and every one does nothing. I am for a league of nations, a Republican league or any kind the Republicans are in. I believe it is the duty of every one who wants the world to disarm to compel action at Washington. Our country is not judged by its parties; it is judged as a nation. But why don't we do something? I ask you: Is there anybody anywhere with an earnest crusading spirit who is trying to arouse America? No. We are as stolid and as inactive as if we did not face the greatest opportunity in history. We are the appointed leaders. It isn't possible for us to see the horrors of the other side. We go on daily living in a pardise while tragic Europe tries to gather its ruins together. We have waited too long, and we will get another war by waiting. Let us make a resolution tonight; let us consecrate ourselves to put war out of this world. It is necessary that we rise out of narrow partisanship, that we act as women.'"
  99. News: Huse. Carl. Voter Group Flexes Muscle in Ads Aimed at Senators. 4 May 2015. New York Times. May 25, 2011.
  100. News: Savage. Melanie. League of Women Voters holds discussion on climate change. 4 May 2015. Hartford Courant. October 20, 2014.
  101. News: Gerhardt. Tina. 9 January 2013. 70 Groups Send Pres. Obama Letter Urging Action on Climate Change. The Progressive.
  102. News: Dunkelberger. Lloyd. League's influence felt as special session begins. 6 May 2015. Herald-Tribune. August 6, 2014.
  103. News: Bush Signs A+-plan. South Florida Sun Sentinel. Kliendienst. Linda. 22 June 1999. 19 August 2022.
  104. News: Redmond. Pat. League of Women Voters support the expansion of Medicaid. 4 May 2015. Juneau Empire. April 6, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150505003410/http://juneauempire.com/letters/2015-04-06/league-women-voters-support-expansion-medicaid. 5 May 2015. dead.
  105. News: Burr. Carol. A national necessity. 4 May 2015. Chico News Review. April 9, 2015.
  106. News: Dickson. Amelia. Bill to abolish death penalty gets hearing. 4 May 2015. Seattle Times. March 6, 2013.
  107. Web site: Major LGBTQ+ Rights Cases Happening Now . 3 June 2021 . LWV . 1 January 2023.
  108. Web site: Bylaws and Certificate of Incorporation . LWV. May 3, 1946 . February 8, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170523113448/http://lwv.org/content/bylaws-and-certificate-incorporation . May 23, 2017 . dead .

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