eVOTER NEWSLETTER
September 10, 2023 - Vol. 5, No. 03 |
Upcoming Board Meetings. All Members Welcome!
- Wed. Oct. 4 | 4:00 PM | Schell Memorial Meeting Room
For Your Calendar
- Tues. Sept 12 | 5:00 PM | Film: The Janes at WRL
- Thur. Sept. 21 | 6:00 PM | We the People Unite for Democracy: Come Meet the Candidates (Virginia General Assembly)
- Thur. Sept. 28 | 6:00 PM | Candidate Forum (JCC BOS and WJCC School Board)
- Thur. Oct. 19 | 4:00 PM | Back to League Fall Meeting (Legacy Hall)
Are you a member or want more information?
| We the People Unite for Democracy: Come Meet the Candidates
For Seats in the General Assembly
SEPT 21 | 6 PM | Williamsburg Regional Library
[515 Scotland St]
| |
Candidates for Senate District 24 (J.D. Diggs and Monty Mason), Senate District 26 (Pamela Garner and Ryan McDougle), and House District 71 (Jessica Anderson and Amanda Batten) have been invited.
So far, Pamela Garner, Mr. Mason, and Ms. Anderson have accepted.
VICPP is registering all interested folks for the event now! Register Now
| | | Candidate Forum
For Seats on JCC County BOS & WJCC School Board
SEPT 28 | 6 PM | Williamsburg Regional Library
[515 Scotland St]
| The League and the York-James City-Williamsburg NAACP are sponsoring a forum for candidates for James City County Board of Supervisors and for the WJCC School Board on Thursday September 28 from 6-8 PM at the Williamsburg Regional Library Auditorium.
Board of Supervisors
Candidates for Berkeley District (John Curran and Ruth Larson), Roberts District (John McGlennon and Trevor Topping), and Stonehouse District (Barbara Null and Lisa Ownby) have all been invited.
So far, Mr. Curran, Ms. Larson, Mr. McGlennon, and Ms. Ownby have accepted.
School Board
Candidates for Berkeley District (Marvin Franz and Randy Riffle), Roberts District (Max Blalock and Daniel Cavazos), and Stonehouse District (Michael Hosang and Damon Walker) have all been invited.
So far, Mr. Riffle, Mr. Blalock, Dr. Cavazos, and Mr. Walker have accepted. | | | The Janes: Free Screening
SEPT 12 | 5 PM | Williamsburg Regional Library
[515 Scotland St]
| |
The Janes provides a very timely look at the Jane Collective - a group of women who built a clandestine network in Chicago to help women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions between 1968 and the landmark Supreme Court Case Roe v. Wade. The Collective risked their personal and professional lives to help others at a time when abortion was a felony in Illinois.
| Meet Heather Booth, Founding Member of The Jane Collective
Heather Booth, an original member and organizer of the Jane Collective, speaks with Denise Harrington, LWV of Virginia Advocacy Chair, on local League member Candi Bradshaw's podcast channel My Blunt Truth. Check out this compelling and historical discussion.
About Heather
"Heather Booth helped transform the American political landscape from her early involvement in both civil rights and abortion rights through her campaign for marriage equality. Heather Booth began participating in the civil rights movement with sit-ins and traveling to Mississippi for Freedom Summer. On her return, she began the first women’s movement organization on a school campus and spearheaded JANE, an abortion counseling service, risking criminal charges in the days before Roe v. Wade. She went on to direct a number of vital national organizations and campaigns..." -- from the The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women | | | Voter Services Gearing Up
| Registration Tabling: Various Dates
Our Voter Services team is hard at work scheduling voter registration tables all over the Williamsburg Area. Look for them at the Farmers Market in Williamsburg, local high schools, William & Mary Fall Orientation, senior living facilities, Christopher Newport University, and U.S. Naturalization ceremonies. This is an important service and we would love to have you get involved.
| | | Follow Us on Social Media
| | Growth of our social media platforms has been steady. Since the League began posting in May, we have accumulated hundreds of followers -- with the potential of converting them to active members. Our messages have been clear, concise, and calls to action. Consider jumping onto a social media platform or two. We understand that “X” formerly known as Twitter may not appeal, but our Facebook reach is up 100%; our Instagram reach is up over 225%.
| | | Sign Up For Back To League
OCT 19 | 4 PM | Legacy Hall [4301 New Town Ave]
| | Join us for Back to League.See old friends, make new ones! There will be refreshments!
A panel of advocates will speak on their special areas: Kyra Cook, former WJCC School Board Chair and current Director of Special Projects at Colonial Behavioral Health; Tim Cywinski who leads public relations and political communications efforts of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter; and Han Jones, political director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.
| | | October 19 | 4:30 PM
Member's Home
The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic by Stephen Vladeck.
Join us to discuss Stephen Vladeck's examination of the Supreme Court's use of unsigned orders, the shadow docket.
And in 2024
January 18, 2024 | 4:30 PM – The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell
April 18, 2024 | 4:30 PM – The Gun Dilemma: How history is Against Expanded Gun Rights by Robert Spitzer
| | | |
"I thought you'd like to know that LWV members are really turning out for the Reclaim Our Vote postcard drive! ... League members have requested more than 1700 cards [as of July], which is about 48% of the total." -- From Jodi, organizer for Reclaim Our Vote
So Let's Grab our Pens and Do More!
Write Non-Partisan Get Out the Vote Postcards to Virginians. Reclaim Our Vote is organizing non-partisan postcards to Black, Hispanic, and Asian-American voters who live in key competitive districts in Virginia. Order your postcards now and mail completed postcards between September 8 and October 25.
| | | Thank-you New & Renewing Members
Nancy & Alan Bolash, Karen Siracusa*, Ellen Salvione, Catherine Sanderson, Laura Moye & Eric Mack
(* member included a donation with dues!)
Membership Renewals
Based on the month you joined, we will remind you to renew your membership yearly. **Students (aged 16+) are free.**
| | | STATE & NAT'L LEAGUE NEWS
| |
We have a new League study, The Right To Vote, addressing the issue of expanding the right to vote in Virginia to encompass universal suffrage.
Part of this study will be look at felon disenfranchisement.
| | |
In Virginia if child care exists in an area, it is often unaffordable. If you are concerned, join the Child Care Study Issue Group, meeting online on the second Sunday of every month 7:30-8:30 pm.
~ Maria Posey, WV-VA Child Care Issue Group Chair
| | | Fair Housing in James City County
| Congratulations James City County
| National Assoc. of Counties Award for Best in Planning Goes to JCC
"...During its most recent Comprehensive Plan update process, community leaders, including the Board of Supervisors, noted the importance of focusing on this question, and worked with County staff to identify a scope of work for the Comprehensive Plan update designed to provide a greater level of information about the implications of alternative visions for growth..." -- National Association of Counties | | | Public Service Opportunities
| City of Williamsburg
Interested in volunteering on a City of Williamsburg board, committee, or commission? City Council appoints members. The City accepts applications at any time and reviews them as vacancies come up.
There are openings and it is easy to apply online. Read More
| | | AROUND THE STATE & NATION
| License Plate Honors Black Newspaper
| Richmond Planet
There is a new license plate available from Virginia's DMV. The plate honors the founding of America's oldest Black newspaper, the Richmond Planet, founded in Richmond by 13 former slaves and first published in1882.
"The Planet covered local, national, and international news, especially focusing on segregation, the depredations of the Ku Klux Klan, voting rights, and the scourge of lynching." -- About Richmond Planet, The Library of Congress
| | | A Focus on Reproductive Rights
| How the Texas Trial Changed the Story of Abortion Rights in America
Infant deaths have spiked in Texas since the government mandated births of nonviable pregnancies. In September 2021, Texas banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and then instituted a prohibition on all abortions from the moment of fertilization unless a woman was experiencing “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy.” The Texas law makes no exception for nonviable pregnancies...” By Sarah Varney, KFF Health News, Aug. 7, 2023 | | | Reproductive Rights Reporting
Follow Reproductive Rights and subscribe to this free comprehensive daily wrap-up of changes to reproductive rights in the states, the front lines in the fight over reproductive rights in a post-Roe America. A project of News From The States.
| | | Reproductive Rights: The League Position
"In 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning the constitutional right to abortion and removing a fundamental right that women and others who can become pregnant held for nearly 50 years. As Congress has failed to codify the right of reproductive choices, one year after Dobbs, nearly half of all states are enforcing more limited abortion restrictions than before the ruling. This has had a devastating impact on people’s health and lives, which will only worsen..." -- LWVUS | Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.
League of Women Voters of Williamsburg Area
P O Box 1086
Williamsburg, VA 23187-1086
501(c)(4) organization | |