The meeting will be a potluck (optional to bring a dish to share) and free. Please bring your own place setting, utensils and beverage container. Hobbs Hall is located at 228 Gougler Ave., Kent.

Invite family and friends or reach out to another Kent League member to carpool. Can’t find your roster for calling? Email us here.

That great feeling still lingers from all we did to STOP ISSUE 1. We just wanted to take a minute and thank all of you for what you did—from distributing yard signs to staffing event tables to writing postcards. And thank you to Voter Service Chairs Jill Hazelton and Stacy Yaniglos.

Here’s a summary of what we did:

• Distributed more than 2,000 Vote No palm cards
• Planted 325 yard signs
• Pinned 900 buttons
• Mailed more than 2,400 postcards
• Drove more than 175 cars with Vote No signs
• Applied 200 Vote No stickers
• Logged more than 2,000 volunteer hours (from people like you)
• Received from Kent City Council a proclamation in support of the Vote No campaign

You can see from the list above and the photos below that it really does take a village to accomplish big things. So, pat yourself on the back, take a deep breath, and get ready for the next important round of voter registration and collecting signatures for redistricting reform.

For Sherry Rose's Election Night Watch Party speech at North Water Brewing, click here.

Thank you to the Portage County Board of Elections for a safe, trusted, efficient special election on Aug. 8.

The Women’s History Project of the Akron area will induct its 40th class of extraordinary local women at the Woman of the Year Awards Luncheon and Information Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at St. George’s Fellowship Centre in Fairlawn. Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor (retired), the first woman chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, will be the keynote speaker.

Doors open at 11 a.m. for an information fair featuring women's organization affiliates. The luncheon will start at noon. 

Mary Ann Kasper, just above to the right, founder and director of the Socially Responsible Sweat Shop, a nonprofit dedicated to helping those with food insecurity in the Kent area, will receive the Innovation Award.

League of Women Voters of the Akron Area member Towanda Mullins will receive the Sister Mary Ignatia Gavin Initiative Award, which is given to a woman who has taken the initiative (often against all odds) to bring about change in society or to help others who follow. Mullins is the leader of the Sojourner Truth Project of Akron. LWV Kent is a project supporter. Tickets are available here. To see the list of winners, click here.

Welcome new members!

Rita Baker

Ciarra Brunn

Carolyn Galizo

Elizabeth Garcia

Diana Skok

Jesse Young,

Angela Bazzizza Young

and Carolyn Wright 

We would like to express our condolences on the passing of Miriam Ridinger, a lifetime member of the League of Women Voters of Kent. To read her obituary, click here.

Now is your chance to order the perfect "League purple" shirt to wear to League voter registration events, Face2Face candidate forums, petition signings and more!

DEADLINE TO ORDER: SEPT. 18

HOW TO ORDER:

Call Sue Lanning at 330-592-2202 or Stacy Yaniglos at 330-697-5723 no later than Sept. 18.

Order at Sept.18 Kick-Off.

Pay by check or cash only.

The shirt is available in sizes small through 3X. We will have some sample sizes available on Sept. 18. Cost is $12.50 through sizes XL/1X; $14.50 for 2X and $15.50 for 3X. Don't miss out! Call now! Thanks to our lovely model, Jane Preston Rose.

We still need to fill a slot for Sunday, Sept. 10, and all slots for the Black Squirrel Festival. Click the buttons below to sign up.

Carry on and get ready to pass petitions and hear

an update on the citizen-led redistricting

commission amendment process

You might have heard the recent news that the first attempt to get the Ohio Citizen's Redistricting Commission Amendment onto the ballot was rejected by Ohio Attorney General David Yost and wondered what that means. The short answer is: not much in the long run! This is a normal part of the process and might even happen again before the amendment is eventually on the ballot. So don't worry. We're confident that Ohioans will have the chance to vote for this amendment next year, and the whole coalition is committed to making sure that happens. Read here what Citizens Not Politicians spokesperson Chris Davey had to say about Yost’s action.  

How did LWV Kent help with the initial signature gathering? Along with the Northern Portage and Geauga County LWVs and our friend Kelly Clary from Aurora and her group, we collected 602 of the 1,800 signatures from Northeast Ohio. The quota for our quadrant of the state was 1,700. We helped LWVO submit 2,800 to the attorney general, along with another 5,000 from other voting advocacy organizations.

Anyone who signed this preliminary petition can sign the official petition when the documents are available, and their signature will be counted. We will keep you informed about future developments.

Check out the Citizens Not Politicians website here. Follow them here on Facebook.

Join us on September 20 for Statehouse Day! We will spend the morning hearing from experts about pending legislation and learning best practices for lobbying elected officials before coming together to hear an inspiring keynote speaker at lunch. For the second half of the day, we will meet with lawmakers to discuss the League’s policy priorities.

This is a great way to learn about what's happening at the Statehouse and how you can effect change in Ohio. To learn more or register, click here. 

Interested in carpooling? Email us your name and we'll be in touch!

The Portage County NAACP Education Committee will hold its annual Freedom Fund event on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the NEW Center at the Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). Check-in starts at 11:30 a.m. The program runs from noon to 2 p.m. To pay online, click here. See the flyer at left for more information about the event.

Democracy Day 2023

in Kent, Oct. 4

LWV Kent board member Bill Wilen has been in communication with Amy Wilkins, Clerk of Kent City Council, and it has been decided that this year’s Democracy Day public hearing will be held Oct. 4 (Wed.).He is asking members to put the the date in their calendars and prepare to attend and participate. The hearing will go from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Council Chambers, Main Fire Station, 320 South Depeyster St., Kent.

"This will be the eighth Democracy Day and I am hoping for a great turn-out either to present or learn about speakers’ perspectives on the proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitution – “WE THE PEOPLE” – which would legalize democracy by freeing “we the people” from corporate rule and get the money out of politics and elections. A well-recognized summary is that the proposed amendment would remove personhood from corporations and eliminate that money is a form of speech. We want to repeal the Citizens United Supreme Court decision," Bill explained.

Read Bill's background information on how Democracy Day came to Kent here. There are lots of perspectives on this issue at MOVETOAMEND.ORG to help give you ideas in order to prepare your 3-5 minute talk to City Council. 

League of Women Voters of Kent will be fielding a team for the ACCESS, Inc. Adult Spelling Bee. Our team name!?? Bee-A-Voter!! Help us raise funds for ACCESS, a non-profit agency that aids women and children experiencing homelessness, by heading here and pledging a gift--no matter the size--to help our team!? Maybe donate to give us a spelling flub up do-over!! Team members: Barb Tittle, Alberta Bowman, Katie Bowman and Amie Cajka. You can also attend the event and cheer us on! Saturday, Oct. 14, 6:30 p.m. at House 330 (formerly The Tangiers). Tickets here.

Read the latest from the LWV Kent Observer Corps. Click here. Interested in an outreach activity that puts you in the rooms where it happens? Click here.