News & Updates from LWVDC

The League of Women Voters 2024 National Convention was held June 27-30 at the Washington Hilton Hotel and online. This biennial convening drew League members from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands as delegates and observers. Delegates from all Leagues voted on our 2024 – 2026 Program, 2024 – 2026 budget, 2024 – 2026 LWVUS Board of Directors and Nominating Committee, and bylaws amendments. There were opportunities to network with our fellow League members, participate in a variety of workshops and trainings, and hear from dynamic speakers.

Here are some highlights from the convention:

• Mayor Muriel Bowser drew a standing ovation as she opened Convention and welcomed attendees. She thanked the LWV for our unwavering support for D.C. statehood.
• The DC Room, open from Thursday morning to Saturday evening, was enjoyed by more than 500 visitors! Big shout outs to DC Vote, with their coloring canvas; the DC History Center, with their interesting Q&A cards; the DC government Statehood office, with their swag to distribute; and Mission Apollo 51, with their clever photo booth—for their substantial contributions to our success. 
• Another highlight from the DC room was the go-go band that performed twice on Friday with a fine dancer who taught go-go moves to an energizing beat. With the high energy of music, lots of enthusiastic volunteers who “peopled” our Hometown DC presentations, and our wares table just outside our door, we had 442 people who signed our petition in support of DC Statehood. Our virtual tour that ran throughout the day on our big screen drew many viewers who took a seat to listen to our stories about living in our hometown.. Thanks to everyone who contributed their time and energy!

Delegates made several decisions about the League's ongoing program and advocacy work: 

• Readopted the Campaign for Making Democracy Work ® for 2024 – 2026, which includes redistricting reform, voting rights protection, improving elections, money in politics, direct election of the President by popular vote, and DC statehood. 
• Reaffirmed League support for DC Statehood with a vote of 98% of delegates through a resolution: “Be it resolved that the League of Women Voters of the United States strongly supports legislation that will establish statehood for the people of the District of Columbia.” 
• Added a League position on supporting local news. The position in brief is: “The League of Women Voters believes it is the responsibility of the government to provide support for conditions under which credible local journalism can survive and thrive. The League defines local news as accurate, in-depth coverage of government entities, including but not limited to, city councils, county councils, county boards of commissioners, health departments, schools, and school boards.” 
• Approved the launch of a LWVUS-led, League-wide study on the federal judiciary. At this time, the League does not have many positions regarding the judicial system. The study would (1) engage legal and academic experts to help clarify judicial accountability, the role of rule of law, and safeguarding judicial independence, (2) gain grassroots input from Leagues, and (3) formulate a position around the federal judiciary for Leagues to use to carry out the mission of empowering voters and defending democracy. It will also be a pilot for streamlining the process and procedures for completing a study within 1 year. 
• Two proposed updates to existing League positions on health care privatization and gun safety were submitted but not approved. While it seemed many delegates agreed with the intent, LWVUS leadership and delegates raised concerns about confusing language and inclusion of specific requirements that would have made it challenging for Leagues across the country to use effectively. 
• The LWVUS is also rolling out its "One Person One Vote" campaign to change our system to elect the president by popular vote and abolish the electoral college. Look for a member meeting in the future to learn more about this effort.

These are some of the administrative decisions that came out of Convention:

• New Leadership. A New CEO. We were delighted to learn that Celina Stewart was named the new CEO of LWVUS! Celina has served in a variety of roles related to litigation, including currently holding the role of Chief Counsel. Celina has been an excellent partner and advocate for LWVDC over the years, and we are so excited to continue working with her in her new role. She will assume duties in August.
• National Board. The new board was elected. Dianna Wynn from North Carolina was elected LWVUS president. Over the past 2 years Dianna supported LWVDC as liaison from the LWVUS board, so many of us know her. Dianna is a fantastic advocate for DC Statehood, and we look forward to her leadership. The full national board members are: President: Dianna Wynn ; Vice President: Sania Irwin ; Treasurer: Leah Edwards ; Secretary: Toni Monette; Directors: Tracy Adkison, Melissa Breach, Stacey Chavis, Kimberly A. Hamlin, Vedna Heywood, Jada Hunter, Alexis Juday-Marshall, Brandi Slaughter.
• National Nominating Committee. The election of the nominating committee was unexpectedly lively, with 6 nominations from the floor on Friday, an impromptu candidate forum held Saturday morning, and the eventual election of two members on Saturday afternoon. The members of the nominating committee are: Chair: Pinny Sheoran ; Members: Toni Zimmer, Maya Eichorn.
• Bylaws. The convention body passed bylaws amendments that clarified the differences between Council (held in odd years as a leadership development and strategy education event for state League leaders) and Convention (held in even years to conduct League-wide business), and to increase the number of representatives state Leagues can send to Council. Amendments proposed by state Leagues discussed and not passed were focused on waiving dues for students and youth members. The major rationale for not passing this was to allow each local and state League to set their own dues waiver approaches under the upcoming new dues system.
• Budget. The convention body passed the proposed budget for LWVUS, which was a balanced budget. We were apprised of the LWVUS Education Fund budget, which included plans to pull in additional funds through grants and other funds to achieve its aims. The convention body does not vote on the LWVUS EF budget. 

Workshop Summaries:

• Corporate and Organizational Partnerships: Expanding Your Reach (LWVDC activities with the Mystics were highlighted.) LWVUS led the workshop. The presentation covered tips and tools for building corporate and organizational partnerships. From the start, the presenters underscored the point that this outreach is NOT solely about fundraising. As important are leveraging the platforms of potential partners to reach voters and raising the League’s profile. Focus areas included how to determine what organizations to target, how to display what we can offer (education & expertise, webinars, volunteer opportunities for employees etc.), how to leverage national partnerships, and how to build your own partner strategy. Finally, we reviewed current partners and the presenters announced that we will soon partner with the Girl Scouts. Materials provided included the presentation deck, partnership overview, pitch deck, model pitch email/LinkedIn language, and templates for MOUs. If you are interested in receiving this information, please contact Ann Castiglione Cataldo, naturalizations@lwvdc.org.
• Proactive Practices to Combat Mis/Dis/Mal-information. LWVIL led the workshop. This is an area of community education for a growing number of Leagues and is both a frightening and fascinating subject. We began with questions: Why do people so readily believe mis/dis/mal-information? What are the differences between mis/dis/ and mal-information and how to spot each? We discussed how AI and social media have amplified the use of these tactics to distort voting, then discussed how to disrupt false information from the top down and bottom up (never repeat the falsehood, even to debunk it!) and how to engage with the public on false information without becoming involved in an emotionally charged discussion. Two good starting points are partnering with the Board of Elections and using 411. The League provided a QR code with links to videos and additional information. This may be something that we want to add to our public education portfolio as it cuts across all phases of the voting process. If you are interested in receiving this information, please contact Ann Castiglione Cataldo, naturalizations@lwvdc.org. 
• Become Part of the LWVUS Campaign to Abolish the Electoral College. LWV Deerfield-Lincolnshire led this brief. The abolition of the Electoral College has become a League US focus area. This presentation had a two-pronged purpose: to clearly show the inequities and injustice that gave birth to the electoral college and how its continued use perpetuates those evils and to showcase the presentation itself. At the onset of the workshop the speaker informed us that she would only use the slides and speaker’s notes to highlight the ease of the presentations use. It is a powerful march through history and compilation of hard data displaying the inequities in the system that persist. The presenters provided talking points and FAQs and will be providing the presentation with speaker’s notes to all interested parties. If you are interested in receiving this information, please contact Ann Castiglione Cataldo, naturalizations@lwvdc.org. 
• Ranked Choice Voting Action. Board member Alissa Bombardier Shaw and RepresentWomen joined several other local and state Leagues to talk about ranked choice voting (RCV) at convention tables. League members were excited to learn about how RCV can give voters more voice and see how their own Leagues could get more involved! Alissa led a workshop on RCV on the first day of Convention. Attendees got to hear about how the LWV already has a position on the reform, the upcoming ballot initiatives for RCV in numerous states, and how RCV helps create better representation for women and people of color in elected office. The weekend was capped with a lovely toast to LWV hosted by RepresentWomen. We connected with League members who were interested in learning more about RCV from every region of the U.S. and celebrated all of the great work the LWV is doing nationwide.

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Reflections by LWVDC student member Anna Livingstone, who served as timekeeper for the Convention plenary sessions: “I really enjoyed getting to hear from the new President and CEO. Being a volunteer meant I got to interact with a lot of LWVUS staff, and it was interesting to get to hear about League work from the staff at the national level. Overall, it was simply inspiring to see so many people from across the country that were enthusiastic about turning up and turning out for democracy.”