The League of Women Voters
Note: This interview was first published in the Fall 2017 Volume 1 of our Guide to Civic Engagement.
The League of Women Voters is a national organization, founded in 1920, six months before the passage of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote in the United States.
The organization was created to help millions of women carry out their responsibilities as voters.
We spoke with Los Angeles chapter Executive Director Marilu Guevara and Vice President of Development Crissi Avila. They explained how more women can wield their voting power to make a difference at the ballot box.
Q: The League was founded right before the 19th Amendment passed, which gave women the right to vote, after a 72-year-long struggle for women who wanted a voice. Was there ever an election with close to 100% participation by women?
MG: The League of Women Voters of Los Angeles is coming up on its 100th year anniversary and its mission of education on public policy and engagement resonates more than ever.
Since its inception, it has faced challenges of voter apathy, partisanship, and misinformation. Despite this, its legacy of nonpartisanship has assured that it stays above the fray of partisan party politics and has assured its longevity. Today, many people seek our unbiased voter guides, ballot measure speakers, and volunteer opportunities. While there has never been 100% participation in an election by women, we continue to work towards informed participation by both men and women.
Q: How bad is voter turnout these days, and what needs to happen to get more people in general to want to vote?
CA: That is the million dollar question! Turnout was about 12% in March (local L.A. elections), but about 60% in November 2016 (presidential election). We are finding that registering voters is only the first step. Many register and then never bother to vote. We need programs and outreach to communities typically ignored to get them involved in the democratic process. Once they realize they can be effective, they are more inclined to vote. This is one strategy.
MG: The average turnout for a local election hovers around 11%. We find that people who understand the ballot measures and who know the candidates are more likely to vote. The League works to create awareness and promote education around voting issues and the voting process. Registering to vote is the easiest thing to do, it is much harder to get educated and cast an educated vote.
Q: Why should people vote in every election, not just the Presidential ones?
CA: Because only a handful of people make decisions that affect ALL our lives.
What's currently going on with our housing shortage, horrible traffic, etc. all needs to be solved by local officials. We had only about 12% voter turnout in L.A. (in March’s local elections). That means about 10% of the population of L.A. County decided what’s going to pass. That’s not representative democracy by any stretch. And that's registered voters - not even eligible voters. Doesn't that worry you?
For more context think of it this way: 58% of eligible voters voted in the Presidential election. That means that 30% voted in our current president. Whether you like the President or not isn’t the worry. The distressing fact is that only 30% of our country decided who our current President would be. Shouldn’t it be at least 51%?
Q: If a voter wants to do their own research on candidates in a race, do you have any suggestions on where they should be looking for research and information on candidates?
CA: We have our Voter's Edge website http://votersedge.org/ca which has all the candidates listed. You can also read the candidates’ websites and see who endorses them. That is key.
Also many are rated with various groups; go to https://votesmart.org/ and put in your zip code. Click on ratings and it will give you a list of how a variety of groups rate a particular candidate.
Q: What specific volunteer and participation opportunities does the League offer?
CA: We have a variety of volunteer activities on-going that we are working on including the following:
• Being part of the speaker's bureau — you go out and speak to different groups about the propositions/referendums on the ballot.
• Debates – moderating and working at candidate forums
• Voter registration drives
• You can start up your own unit (or club) with our support and decide what local issues you want to work on. We have started up one at Mount Saint Mary's College and another eastside unit that are working on homelessness. We also have about 5 other units that meet regularly.
• Homelessness and Community Policing are two areas that we are working on specifically.
• YES (Youth Empowered Solutions) Committee will start meeting this fall — we do outreach to youth to get people involved politically and recently did a drive to register 3,000+ students at Compton Unified School District in partnership with other groups.
• Another volunteer is starting up social events to get more college students involved in our outreach, so planning fundraisers/social events is another element.
· We are open to other ideas!