"Minutes after DeSantis signed the law, the League of Women Voters of Florida and two other civil ri

[summer_in_TX]

6. Until I got drafted to serve on the board of my county's League in Texas,

I had some misconceptions.

My mom was a lifelong League member, and an activist. But I didn't put the two together.

But these women and men are the philosophical heirs of the Suffragists who endured jail and force feeding to ensure women got the right to vote. They are a 100 year old civil rights organization.

They work tirelessly (and are firmly nonpartisan in the work they do) to expand access to voting to as many people as possible, make sure voters have the knowledge they need to be informed voters, and get out the vote.

They partner with groups like the ACLU, NAACP, LULAC and others to fight against bad bills or unfair voting practices. They have a reasoned, non-threatening approach. But I would not want to get in their way.

Our county was going to ram through polling locations without hearings before the 2020 election cycle. As nonpartisans we asked for and got a public hearing added the evening before the vote, then put the word out through allied organizations and social media. Some 143 people spoke for almost five hours at that hearing. The next day, votes that had sounded like they were heading the other way were suddenly changed. The university students in particular were allowed a location that was easier to get to than it had looked like before the hearing.

Our League had warned of a lawsuit in 2018, and suddenly the hours to vote on campus and three other locations were expanded.

At the state level, the League filed a lawsuit that prevented a mass purging of voters based on drivers license records that didn't take account of those who'd become citizens since getting them.

League members are not showy, but they are determined.

BTW, you'll like their values statement:

LWV is an organization fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in principle and in practice. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to the organization’s current and future success in engaging all individuals, households, communities, and policy makers in creating a more perfect democracy.