The League has an important role to play before, during, and after the election to ensure the public has accurate information, to monitor how the election is being conducted and how votes are counted in your community. It is important that, when issues arise, the League is prepared to respond quickly with accurate information. Additionally, since we are trusted and tuned into our local communities, local Leagues will be able to identify issues that may be missed by groups organized at the state and national level.

LWVUS has provided an Election Preparation Toolkit here and Election Season Rapid Response Guidance here.  

The Rapid Response Guidance outlines what type of issues LWVUS wants you to elevate to the national office during this time. If you have an issue to elevate to LWVMA or LWVUS, please contact us at the office phone number (857) 452-1715 or by email at votehelp2020@lwvma.org. Be sure to communicate good news, such as smoothly working polls, increased voter turnout, etc., too.

2020 Election Talking Points: LWVUS has provided talking points on key issues related to the election. Please use these if you are contacted by the local media for comment by your local League. Please let us know if you are interviewed by your local media. You can also direct your local media outlet to LWVMA for comment. 

LWVUS is an active partner of the National Task Force on Election Crises, a cross-partisan group of more than 50 experts dedicated to ensuring a free and fair 2020 general election. LWVUS CEO Virginia Kase sits on this task force board. Over the last six months, the group has held multiple strategy sessions and created and disseminated multiple resources to help navigate this election cycle.

 

Since July, LWVUS has also engaged a group of local, state, and national League leaders to develop possible scenarios and review where the League can best serve our democracy, depending on conditions following the election. Follow LWVUS on OutreachCircle for action alerts, rapid response messaging, and other important notifications.

Thanks to all League members across the state for the tremendous work you did during this unprecedented election season! You held virtual candidate forums, helped town clerks when they needed it, informed voters how mail voting and early voting work, told them where the ballot dropboxes were, and reminded them it might take a little while to count all the votes this time. You proved democracy is not a spectator sport!

December 13th at 1:00pm, please join us for LWVMA’s 100th Virtual Birthday Gala and a fireside chat featuring Dr. Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard who is widely known for her work on justice and citizenship. Danielle will lead us in a discussion entitled: Massachusetts Post-Pandemic: A New Social Compact? Event registration/ticket purchase and sponsorship opportunities details here. Let’s look forward to the next 100 years!

Ask your legislators to urge the Conference Committee to report out the Economic Development Bill H.4887/S.2842 for a vote before the end of the year. This is the time to provide an updated framework that can address the statewide crisis in modestly priced housing units. The economic development bill in conference is a mixture of several bills, including the major provisions from League-supported bills H.1288 and S.775. Read the LWVMA’s letter about H.4887/S.2842 here.

Thank the Governor for his Eviction Diversion Initiative which will expand funds for emergency housing assistance and provide some new services to help people at risk of losing their homes. Now that the stronger state moratorium on evictions has expired, we are relying on the Federal CDC moratorium that will expire Dec. 31. 

To avoid first of the year evictions in the tens of thousands and other disasters due to pandemic losses, ask your legislators to push for a vote on H.5018 and S.2918 An Act to Guarantee Housing Stability during the COVID-19 Emergency and Recovery, currently in the House Rules and Senate Ways and Means Committees. 

Please contact your Representative to ask House Ways and Means to bring H.3983—An Act to create a 2050 roadmap to a clean and thriving Commonwealth to the floor for a vote. This is a no-nonsense approach to reducing emissions and setting interim targets. See League testimony here; see Action Alert with details here.

Nothing’s changed in October and that means there is still time to act! Different versions of a policing bill passed the Massachusetts Senate and House (H.4860/S.2820) and have gone to conference committee. The LWVMA letter to Speaker DeLeo urging release of the final bill, states “…we are making our voice heard to ensure the passage of police reform and accountability legislation in Massachusetts.” If you haven’t done so already, please contact your legislators and ask them to contact the conference committee to urge that committee to release the police reform bill and then ask your legislators to support the bill.

There is a significant possibility the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade. The ROE Act, pending in the legislature, would codify the right to an abortion in Massachusetts, allow minors to get an abortion without parental or judicial consent, and would permit an abortion after 24 weeks if a fatal fetal abnormality is diagnosed.

Please contact your state Senator and Representative now and ask them to work to pass the ROE Act (S.1209/H.3320) this session. See League testimony here. 

Join your LWV colleagues across the state to learn more about what your local League can do to further its work on issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We will meet online several times a year to share ideas, experiences, and resources. The group will be coordinated by Patty Shepard (Winchester) and Amy Cooper (Central Berkshire County), both of whom are members of the LWVMA DEI Committee. Our next meeting will be held Sat. Nov. 14th at 1:30 PM. If you would like to participate, please email Patty Shepard and/or Amy Cooper.

This is a great time to get involved in Massachusetts League advocacy. The new legislative session will start in January, so you could work with the current League legislative specialists to learn about the process. For more information, contact LAC Chair Kathy Leonardson.

Please register and encourage your rural League members and interested individuals to register for The Transportation & Climate Initiative: Clean Transportation for Rural Communities. This webinar, hosted by Transportation for Massachusetts Coalition (T4MA) and co-sponsored by LWVMA (and other T4MA partner/members), will be held on November 10th at 7 pm on Zoom.  

The Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) is a multi-state compact to reduce carbon emissions and invest in better, cleaner, more equitable transportation. What does this mean for rural communities and transportation in Massachusetts? What are the benefits, and who decides how the program is run? The goal is to educate and inform rural residents and stakeholders about TCI, to hear about the priorities for clean transportation in rural areas, and to share how to make one’s voice heard to shape TCI as it moves ahead. See link for more information and to register here.

On Monday, November 16th at 3:00 PM, join the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts and the Transportation for Massachusetts Coalition for a timely policy discussion on key transportation topics, including public transportation funding, the impacts of COVID-19, climate/tailpipe emissions, and addressing historic injustices in transportation policy. Register for this Zoom webinar here.

Please help raise $100,000 for our 100th year by participating in this year’s LWVMA fall appeal and Phonathon. By having your local League participate in Phonathon, a portion of the total funds raised will go back to your League. Please contact Taylor Grenga to sign up your League to participate. 

See Charles Stewart's presentation “Will the 2020 Election be Safe?” here. 

Follow up on a topic mentioned by speaker Charles Stewart, about MIT’s McCormick Hall and the suffragist who funded it and helped found LWV, Katharine Dexter McCormick here. 

How to Contact Your Legislator: You can find phone numbers, email addresses and office addresses on the legislature’s webpage for your Senator and Representative.  Go to www.malegislature.gov and click on the Legislators tab.  If you don’t know who your legislators are, click here.

The LWVMA Action Newsletter is distributed to all LWVMA members. Anyone can request the Action Newsletter by clicking here. Please review this Newsletter for articles of interest to your League and include them in your local Bulletin.