THE VOTER AUGUST 2020

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President’s Message First greetings to all of our Kent League of Women Voters members! This year, 2020, is a really big year for League and for the vote for women. We are celebrating 100 years. I thoroughly enjoyed watching “The Vote” on PBS, the documentary covering the history of women fighting for the right to vote. I wonder what I would have been doing if I had been alive during that time. The story is so rich, so fascinating, and the women who got us to the polls were politically powerful. And to contemplate that there was so much female opposition is mind boggling. As a companion to the documentary, I was reading The Woman’s Hour by Elaine Weiss, which chronicled “The Vote” very well. It is a fascinating read, and I recommend it as a very well-researched account. Many, many years ago, I envisioned a career as a buyer for Lazarus, a major department store in Columbus. As a result, current fashion, colors and styles were in the forefront of everything I did. So, I was quite surprised to learn (from The Woman’s Hour) that the early colors of the movement were green, white and violet (standing for Give Women the Vote). How clever. Our colors today—purple, white and gold—represent loyalty, purity and hope.  So, as we all move down the road toward the next general election, let us recall all that has come before us to allow women to vote and the men who supported them. Look at what could currently be construed as obstruction or voter suppression and barring eligible participants from having their votes count and what we can do about it. A huge thank you to Anne Reid, Stacy Yaniglos and their team who have mobilized to help citizens get registered; and to Jen Kinney, Jill Hazelton and the Voter Services Committee, whose energy and great ideas have filled the calendar between now and November 3 with targeted events and activities to get out the vote. There is a place for each one of us in these efforts. In League, Debbie

All Member Meeting/September Kick-off Event The new program year for the League of Women Voters of Kent will kick off online Thursday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. New member orientation begins at 6 p.m. We have scheduled the event for the same night as the monthly online All Member Meeting. Log on to hear a presentation about microaggressions in everyday life. The speaker is Sunny Matthews, a motivational speaker who co-founded Dimensions of Isms and focuses on issues of diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.   To learn more about the speaker and how you can join the Zoom meeting, click here.

Attention, new members! New Member Orientation begins begins at 6 p.m.! Join Membership Chair Sherry Rose for all you need to know about getting the most out of your LWV Kent membership. She also will answer any questions you may have. To join the New Member Orientation (followed immediately by the AMM), click here.

Voters & Candidates Face2Face Forum for November general election goes virtual The Voters & Candidates Face2Face forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Kent is going virtual, and the community is invited. Voters can talk with county candidates in contested general election races on Saturday, Sept. 19, starting at 9 a.m. Candidates in contested races for Portage County Commissioner, Portage County Court of Common Pleas - General Division, Portage County Recorder, Portage County Sheriff, State Senate 18th District, and State Representative 75th District will be participating in the forum. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event will be hosted in an online meeting format through Zoom. The forum is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, click here. To learn how a virtual forum still lets you talk directly to the candidates, click here. Members, get in on the Zoom fun! League members! Interested in volunteering to help with this project? Volunteers will need access to a computer and internet to serve in the roles needed. Click here to sign up.

You've got the power! The power to help us promote the forum to the community! We've provided a few ways to make that happen and still stay socially-distanced. It is less than a month away and community members need to be aware that registration is required. Download this cover and it should open in your browser. Right click on the image and click on "save as" to save to a file or leave in your downloaded files. Then change your cover image. Download this flyer pdf file to print out and take places you might be able to post. Or attach it to emails to friends and invite them to register. Download this image to insert to your emails to send and invite friends. To those members with social media accounts, download this image and include a message urging area family and friends to attend by registering at this link that you have copied and pasted into the post: https://my.lwv.org/ohio/kent/event/face2face-voters-candidates-event.

VOTE411.org is your ‘one-stop-shop’ for election-related information Where is my polling location? How do I vote absentee? When does early voting start? How do I register to vote? Is it too late to register to vote in November? Where can I find factual and unbiased information about the candidates and issues on the ballot this year? If you’re puzzled about these and other election-related questions, VOTE411.org has the answers—all in one place. Launched by the League of Women Voters Education Fund in October of 2006, VOTE411.org provides nonpartisan information to the public with both general and state-specific information on the following aspects of the election process: absentee ballot information; ballot measure information (where applicable); early voting options (where applicable); election dates; factual data on candidates in various federal, state and local races; general information on topics such as how to watch debates with a critical eye; ID requirements; polling place locations; registration deadlines; voter qualifications; voter registration forms; and voting machines.

Dues are due! Have you paid yours? Thank you to those who have paid their 2020-2021 dues. For those of you who have not done so, click here to pay online, or mail your check, payable to LWV Kent, to Gail Pytel, 613 North Willow, Kent, OH 44240. Dues are $60 for individuals, $30 for each additional household member, and $5 for students. We also offer a “pay what you can” option.  Because a large portion of our dues ($57 of the $60 dues for individual members) is sent to LWV-Ohio and LWV-US to support the valuable work those organizations do on our behalf, members’ contributions, to the extent they are able, are appreciated to support our local activities. LWV Kent is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Membership dues and contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.

Welcome, new LWV Kent members! The League of Women Voters of Kent is pleased to report that 33 individuals have joined the organization since January of this year, bringing our membership to 195 strong. A hearty welcome is extended to . . . Georgina Aberegg, Rachel Baba, Irina Bade, Al Barber, Brian Bialik, Armintha Bryant, Alberta Bowman, Lori Calcei, Amelia Chapman, Damien Chapman, Wendy DiAlesandro, Becky Doggett, Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Kathleen Endres, Patrick Heenan, Joanne Jones, Sara Koopman, Carlos Lechet, John Ludwick, Ruth Ludwick, Marianne Martens, Betsy Neylon, Cassidy Pittman, Betsy Rader, John Reynolds, Rhonda Richardson, Sarah Rogers, Ronna Russell, Mary Lynn Sartain, Marilyn Sessions, Mary Starbuck, Bethany Snyder and Carla Wyckoff.

Women's Equality Day Virtual Forum ‘The 19th Amendment to the 21st Century: 100 years of Women Together’ Presenters at this virtual forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Ohio are Dr. Suparna Bhaskaran, Ohio State University Cultural Anthropology; Dr. Alfreda Brown, trailblazing former leader of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, retired, Kent State University (and a former member of LWV Kent!); and Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R), Ohio District 16, and Co-Chair of the Ohio Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission. Moderator is Jen Miller, Executive Director, League of Women Voters of Ohio To RSVP, click here.

The Ohio History Connection presents ‘100 Years of Ohio Women’s Activism: Modern Activists in Action’  The Ohio History Connection presents “100 Years of Ohio Women’s Activism: Modern Activists in Action,” the first event in its yearlong commemoration of passage of the 19th Amendment. “This major victory,” says the OHC, “was only the beginning for women’s activism.” The virtual event gives participants a chance to learn more about women’s suffrage and activism in Ohio from the state’s founding through today from a panel of three experts. The event is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 29, at noon Eastern time. Panelists are Paula Haines, executive director of Freedom a la Cart; Rhiannon Childs, vice president of community engagement & social impact for the Ohio Women’s Alliance; and Julia Applegate, director of Equitas Health Institute at Equitas Health. To register and to read more about the speakers, click here.

A video to warm your heart . . . from LWV Washington League of Women Voters of Washington President Lunell Haught sent this heartwarming video about voting in America. She writes, “One of our local Leagues did an essay contest about voting (high school), with a little incentive for the winners to do a video for us. This is the one that just ‘got’ me—it is a little over a minute and will put this year and this work in context for you.” The video, which Haught says LWVWA has “permission to use wherever,” was created by Liberty Leavitt at Kennewick High School in Kennewick, Washington. Click here to watch.

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