| Step By Step to the Starting Line
In-person meetings? No. Progress on many fronts? YES! | | Here are a few of the ways LWVJoCo is moving forward:
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Get Out the Vote (GOTV): Getting voters to cast their ballots remains LWVJoCo’s top priority this year. Voter Registration Co-chairs Deb Scott and Robyn Hart created three videos targeting youth and teachers (see article below). Members Ann Sanders, Beth Seberger and others continue to work with faith and civic groups in Wyandotte County to engage voters.
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Partners. Working with the Kansas Coalition for Citizen Participation, members were urged to contact Secretary of State Scott Schwab about mail-in ballots (postage paid); election transparency; and safe, fair in-person voting.
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Member input. Your ideas from the March survey helped inform DEI plans. Self-analysis tools, speakers and learning how to address bias in others ranked highly. Concerning GOTV, you gave highest marks to partnerships, connecting with teen/youth groups and sharing League information on your personal social media. However, only 44 of our 354 members responded, just 12%. Next time, please speak up. We’re listening!
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Leadership changes: Heartfelt thanks to Ann Norbury, who has stepped down from the communications team and managing our weekly eblasts. Over the years, her many JoCo hats have included co-president (twice!), webmaster, merchandise coordinator, event coordinator and many more. She indeed goes “above and beyond” for League. Thank you!
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Intern. On May 18, Baker University senior Hadley Kaff became our first-ever JoCo intern. Thanks goes to member Linda Seiner who connected Hadley with LWVJoCo. Hadley will work with Amber Stenger and several teams to help us GOTV.
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Election commissioners. LWVJoCo leaders are working with the Johnson and Wyandotte county election offices to see how we could help them make voting fair and accessible. We’ll keep you posted.
2020 is a critical election year. LWVJoCo is on the move. Read your e-blasts. Check the VOTER newsletter. Visit our website frequently to find out how you can help protect voter rights.
Amber Stenger and Ellen Miller, co-presidents
| | |  | | A first! Our May monthly meeting was adapted in short order to the Zoom platform.
About 50 people attended our virtual meeting, "Legislative Recap: What Comes Next?" If you didn't have a chance to join us, you can watch it here.
|  | | Special thanks goes to members Janet Milkovich, Kathleen Morrow and Mitchell Krasnopoler for creating such an informative program and to panelists Paul Johnson and Michael Poppa for sharing their time and insights. Thanks also to Mitchell Krasnopoler and Amber Stenger for their invaluable technical support. | | |
In-Person Meetings Cancelled
We continue to follow public health officials' recommendations about ways to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. We've canceled the June picnic, the August preview party and in-person voter registration events. We're exploring ways to bring us together throughout the summer and to promote voter engagement virtually. In the meantime, encourage family and friends to request an advance ballot (or register to vote) at ksvotes.org.
Naturalization Ceremonies Cancelled
Naturalization ceremonies are cancelled, for June 19 and for the foreseeable future. New citizens will be brought in in small groups to take the oath of citizenship. Consequently, League participation is suspended until such time as larger groups are allowed to gather and it is safe to resume our voter registration activity. We will continue to provide voter registration information for the new citizens in the form of a packet put together by member Christine Hutchins. The packet includes our handout and a registration form (with instructions for filling out the form and where to send/take it), as well as links for checking on their voter registration and other voter information.
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Highlights of State Council 2020
About 50 members from throughout the state gathered virtually Saturday to take care of state League business. Here are the highlights.
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Revised the “Health: Medical Indigence” position statement. The council updated the definition of “medically indigent person” and expanded it to include behavioral health. Read the updated statement.
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Approved a one-year review and modernization (or update) of the state League’s criminal justice positions. The study committee will comprise representatives from all nine local Leagues. Contact Amber Stenger if you are interested in serving on the study committee.
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Raised per member payment by $2 for members and $1 for household members. This takes effect April 2021. It was last raised in 1994.
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Voted to amend the articles of incorporation and bylaws to move forward with the conversion to a 501(c)3.
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Passed a resolution asking Governor Kelly to order that all registered voters receive mail-in ballots in addition to having some in-person voting sites open for the August and November elections.
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The need to expand voter registration and voter engagement has not changed with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and is more important than ever. You know the old saying, “we are building the airplane as it flies.” Since the work cannot be done in person, we are working in the virtual world with the various platforms. We already have an excellent online tool, ksvotes.org, which offers a quick and easy way to update voter registration, change name and address, change party affiliation, or request a mail ballot.
Deb Scott has prepared a video teaching tool for using this site which will be used to train community members to fill out the form. If you haven’t seen it, here is a link to the LWVJOCOKS Youtube channel: How to Register to Vote. Please share it with your friends, neighbors and family members. We will be enlisting our LWV Voter Registration volunteers to help share it with our community and senior living facility contacts, so watch for an email invitation from us. | |
Voter registration at high schools and local colleges is another challenge when schools are closed and Deb has created a Youtube video that we will be sending out early in the fall that teachers can use to help students register and to encourage them to follow through and vote. It is also posted on our Youtube channel. Here is the link: Time to Vote!
We don’t know when we will be able to host voter registration events in person again. While we all look forward to that time, in an election year it remains critically important to continue our mission in any way that we can. We ask for everyone to help spread the word and utilize ksvotes.org! Please feel free to contact us with ideas, questions or concerns.
Deb Scott and Robyn Hart
Voter Registration
lwvjocovr@gmail.com
| | |  | Member Spotlight: Wendy Wilson
Through her work as director of the Rosedale Development Association, Wendy learned the importance of partnerships and citizen involvement in making the voice of the people heard. Read more about Wendy. | | |
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Observer Reports
Catch up on the actions, decisions and proposals of our local public officials. Read the summaries by League members who attend several public meetings in our area.
Highlights this month include:
- Johnson County BOCC approved stormwater Management Program projects with the cities of Fairway, Olathe, Lenexa, Shawnee, Overland Park, Mission Hills, Prairie Village and Merriam for about $2,000,000.
- The goal is for all Johnson County Library locations to be open by July 15. See the reopening plans..
- With the changes that occurred due to the coronavirus this spring, the Olathe School Board is going forward to with plans this fall to provide all elementary students an iPad (1:1 ratio).
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Board and Committee Briefs
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The board appointed Ann Sanders and Mary Lou Jaramillo to serve another one-year term as DEI co-chairs. The two created and led a valuable and informative DEI workshop for board and DEI committee members on May 16, helping our League keep diversity, equity and inclusion front and center.
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Our new website launched successfully on May 6, with more than 1800 visits in the first week. Communications Chair Mitchell Krasnopoler did a wonderful job transitioning our website to the new ClubExpress platform. If you have questions or ideas, contact Mitchell Krasnopoler. By the way, LWVUS has just selected Club Express as its membership management system.
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LWV-California’s Criminal Justice Committee will be presenting a virtual caucus for the LWV-US Convention on June 24 at 7pm EST. All members are welcome, not just delegates. No fee. Registration will be available soon on the LWV-US Convention webpage.The California League has also reached out with a survey, designed to determine your specific interests in the area of criminal justice reform and your interest in helping the League educate and advocate effectively for these reforms. You can respond to LWV California Criminal Justice Committee 2020 Nation-wide Survey by May 31, 2020, and email any questions or comments to criminaljustice@lwvc.org.
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ICYMI
Great news for voters in Kansas! Read about our latest victory in Fish v Schwab (previously Fish v Kobach) in this LWV of Kansas press release.
| | LVW of Kansas Criminal Justice Study Committee
Interested in working on state-level position statements?
The Kansas League will be conducting a one-year review of the state League’s criminal justice positions.
A study committee will be forming soon, composed of representatives from all nine local Leagues. If you are interested in serving on the study committee, contact Jennifer Heminway of Wichita.
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