LWV May2020 Voter

THE VOTER

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE MIDLAND AREA

www.LWV-Midland.org | Facebook

May 2020

Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.

The League of Women Voters is a national, political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in their government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League is non-partisan and as an organization does not endorse or oppose candidates or political parties.

Annual Meeting in a time of COVID-19

The Annual Meeting will be held at 2pm on May 20 via freeconferencecall.com. (You do not need to create an account or anything else to prepare)

Instructions for entering the meeting are included in the document below:

2019-2020 Call-in Instructions, Meeting Agenda, and Annual Report (pdf document)

Documents to be voted on have been sent to all members by US Mail. These are 1) Slate of officers; 2) Local Program; and 3) Budget. A cover letter explaining how to join the conference call will be sent.

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact President Kim Steinke (kimsteinke@mac.com).

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

The LWV of the United States has a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy that they are recommending for all state and local leagues to adopt. This year, section VIII of the Local Program, Diversity Equity and Inclusion has been added to the proposed Local Program, Members will be voting to approve the Local Program at the Annual Meeting.

What is it? Diversity includes all of the similarities and differences among people. Equity is an approach based in fairness to ensuring everyone is given equal opportunity; this means that resources may be divided and shared unequally to make sure that each person has a fair chance to succeed. Inclusion refers to the degree to which diverse individuals are able to participate fully in the decision-making processes within an organization or group.

The purpose of the policy is to encourage Leagues to look at ways they can reach many people who are different from our historical membership. At first it seems difficult to know how to reach diverse people, but we try to consider simple things like location and time of programs, the media outlets we use, and reaching out online.

Voter Service - August 4 Primary

There are 15 contested races in Midland County for the August 4 Primary*. Contested races are:

Drain Commissioner

Jennifer Miller (R) - Primary

Joe Sova (R) - Primary

Calvin Wentworth (D) - General

Sheriff

Al Beagle (R) - Primary

Myron Greene (R) - Primary

Laura Lee (R) - Primary

City Council Ward 1 - Primary

Pam Hall

Jeremy Rodgers

City Council Ward 3 - Primary

Steve Arnosky

Matt Rapanos

And 10 Primary-contested Township races

Candidates in all Midland County contested primary races will receive questionnaires to enter their information into VOTE411.org for the primary guide. Vote411.org entries should be ready by June 20, the date for availability of absentee ballots.

Live candidate forums will be arranged as needed. A candidate forum is only held if there are 2 or more candidates for the same office in the same party. Some or all of the candidate forums will be held online.

*This information only covers Midland County. Other state and federal races will be included in the Aug. 4 primary.

Check the web page and the Voter newsletter for updates.

Fundraising in a time of Covid-19

Due to the difficulties brought about by the Covid-19 virus pandemic, the Board decided not to solicit donations this year. We will contact our sponsors and thank them for their past support. Normally, an advertiser pays $100.00 for an ad on our website and in our newsletter for our fiscal year - from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. With the shutdown of so many small businesses and the uncertainty of the economy in the near future, we plan to continue the ads this year free of charge. Next April we will resume "selling" the ads for July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.

Please patronize these local businesses! When you visit a business that advertises with us, be sure to identify yourself as a member of the League of Women Voters of the Midland Area and thank the owner, the clerk, or other representatives of the business for supporting the League with an advertisement.