VOTE411 is LIVE!!!

The LWV online Voter Guide at www.VOTE411.org is live with information on state and local candidates running for office in the Spring 2025 April 1 election. Candidates have been invited to answer questions posed by the state and local Leagues, and their answers are published verbatim. The Voter Guide is only as good as the information it contains.          

YOU CAN HELP!

Go to www.Vote411.org and enter your address. You will see the races that will appear on your ballot and the candidates running for these offices. Candidates participate in our online voter guide by entering their campaign information and answering the League’s questions. All candidate responses to our questions are published verbatim from the candidates. We do not edit candidate responses.

If your local candidates have not answered the League’s questions, please contact them and tell them you want to learn about where they stand on issues in our community. Here is a sample script you can use in a phone call, a text, or an email to the candidates:  

1. If your candidate(s) has answered our questions, thank them.

Thank you for responding to VOTE411’s Voter Guide so that voters can be informed before casting their vote.

2. If your candidate(s) has NOT answered our questions, call on them to do so.

As a voter, I want to hear where our candidates stand on the issues. That’s why I am calling on you to respond to VOTE411’s Voter Guide so we can be informed before casting our ballots. If you haven’t received our invitation, check your SPAM folder. Contact Sue Leister at voterguide@lwvmilwaukee.org to request she resend the invitation. 

THEN…Spread the word about VOTE411.org.  Tell your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues about this election resource to learn about the candidates running for office and where they stand on issues important to voters.  

~EVENT CANCELED~

Repro Warriors Defending Reproductive Freedom March 13 event @ Alverno College has been canceled.

LWVMC Giving Day

The first ever LWVMC Giving Day was on International Women’s Day, Saturday, March 8. 

International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world as a day when women from every national, ethnic, cultural, economic and political background are recognized for their achievements. 

The Giving Day campaign was done through social media and a few emails all targeting non-members and the general public.      

Thank you for your help with the campaign by liking, commenting, and sharing the posts that you saw on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.  A special thank you for the comments you added when sharing. You helped LWVMC spread the word about the League’s mission to empower voters and defend democracy and to reach more prospective donors.

Many of the social media posts were testimonials from League members. Thank you to Barbara Boles, Peggy Creer, Eloisa Gomez, Lorna Grade, Anita Gulotta-Connelly, Nancy Maloney, Louise Petering, Peg Schrader, Donna Spars, and Leigh Ann Tidey for sharing why they give to LWVMC.    

The goals for this first ever giving day campaign were accomplished:

•  We increased public awareness of the work that we do
• We increased the number of followers for LWVMC on LinkedIn
• We raised a modest amount of money - $535.00

SILENT AUCTION TEAM MEMBERS NEEDED!

We will once again have a Silent Auction at our Annual LWV Milwaukee County Meeting on May 31, 2025. I am recruiting fellow members to be part of the Silent Auction Team. I could really use your help! Team members will: 

• Solicit donations from area businesses and organizations
• Accept and catalog donations at the office
• Prepare donations for display at the event
• Create descriptions of the donations for display with the items and for handout information
• Transport and unload auction items to and from the office on the day of the event
• Set up the auction items: decorate the tables and arrange the display of the auction items
• Assist auction buyers at the event: collect cash and checks and help with bagging up purchases
• Assist with the cleanup after the auction is over

If you would like to be part of this effort, please contact me directly with questions at my personal email address of eharrisce@aol.com. Thank you!  Elizabeth Harris-Hodge

LWVWI Annual Meeting June 6-7

Registration is open for the state League's annual meeting, hosted this year by LWV Ozaukee-Washington Counties. The event will be June 6 and 7 at Hilton Garden Inn Northwest Conference Center, 11600 West Park Place, Menomonee Falls.

This year's theme is "The Arts & Civic Activism." Details and registration here: 

Volunteer at High School Registrations

Consider volunteering at high school registrations. You get to meet enthusiastic students and dynamic staff members. It is very rewarding to guide the students into becoming registered voters and engaged citizens. Most of the registrations are two-three hours. 

Join White Women Facing Racism

Become part of a community of white women who are determined to do something about racism in our country, who don’t want to do this work alone, who won’t sit back at this pivotal moment of our country’s history and do nothing, and who see a need to transform their thoughts and attitudes toward racism and to act to dismantle the racism in our society. In small groups, women gather to read, discuss and reflect on racism. The next session begins in June 2025. Click here to learn more about the program and to register. Mary Delgado, LWVMC member, will co-facilitate the group. Check out the reading list here.

90 Attend LWVMC DEI Forum

Referencing the recent avalanche of executive orders that challenge diversity equity and inclusion policies and civil rights, among many other challenges to long-standing League positions, Nelson urged the audience to stand strong at this confounding time by recalling the strength of those who fought for freedom and justice in earlier times, invoking the words of Coretta Scott King: “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” Nelson encouraged people to join the larger resistance community in the current fight and provided strategies for building partnerships with other organizations. “You can’t do it alone,” she said. After the presentation, participants broke into small groups and shared concerns  and action strategies to meet the moment.

Many thanks to Karen Nelson for an informative and uplifting presentation. Especial thanks to Nitasha Bradrick, Liddie Collins-Siegrist, Peggy Creer, Christin Cleaver, Marilyn Goris, Liz Harris-Hodge, Mike Kloehn, Xin Li, Barbara Rasmussen, Mary Ellen Spicuzza, Mary Sussman and Darrell Williams for help with planning, registration, set-up and clean-up, publicity, photography, livestreaming and food donations.

LWVUS Protest Safety Guidance

If you plan to participate in a political rally or protest march, know your rights and how to stay safe. If you decide to pull out your cell phone to record events, keep in mind that you have a 1st Amendment right to record law enforcement in public spaces, but only as long as you don't interfere -- and the police make that call.

 Read more advice from the national League here.

Tuesday, April 15 at noon with MICAH’s Health Equity Organizer Diannia Merriett-Alabi 

Diannia has worked in education for over 20 years. Her teaching philosophy has always been that kids learn best when they feel welcomed, valued, and safe. Diannia Merriett-Alabi was born and raised in Milwaukee. She is the proud parent of one daughter and one granddaughter. Diannia has been very active in amplifying the voice of marginalized people. In college she was the president of the Black student union. Diannia works to challenge and dismantle racism,  and other forms of injustice in Milwaukee County and beyond in its community systems. She is the founder of “People Advocating Greendale Equity.” 

 Zoom Link Meeting ID: 898 7075 0195 Passcode: 110973

Webinar: "On the Radar: The SAVE Act, State Laws, & Other Policies Impacting Nonprofits"

The news impacting our representative democracy has had nonprofit heads on a swivel over the past few months. To help explain recent government policy news, Nonprofit VOTE is joined by representatives from the Brennan Center for Justice and State Voices for a free webinar titled "On the Radar: The SAVE Act, State Laws, & Other Policies Impacting Nonprofits" on March 19 at 1pm CT. 

March 25 on PBS: 35th Anniversary of the ADA

While curb cuts, ramps at building entrances, and braille on elevator buttons seem commonplace today, they were once the subject of a pitched battle that landed on the steps of Congress.

Premiering Tuesday, March 25 at 9/8c on PBS, Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act tells the emotional and dramatic story of the decades-long push for equality and accessibility that culminated in the 1990 passage of the ADA, one of the most consequential civil rights bills in the nation’s history.

Support Local Democracy. Support Your League.

Your support is critical to help our nonpartisan grassroots organization reach voters play a critical role in democracy. It would not be possible to empower voters and defend democracy without your support. 

Thank you! LWVMC