by Shelley Kneip, LWVWA Voter Services
Local Leagues across the state were busy this election season, continuing our work to empower voters and defend democracy through a variety of Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaigns. While there were far too many actions across the state to report, here’s a highlight of League activities, lessons learned, and data on the work we did, because it’s time to start planning for 2024 while the memories are fresh!
Registering Voters
Getting new voters registered is a crucial function for local Leagues, and Leagues were very creative in how and where they registered voters this year. Most local Leagues were busy throughout the summer at fairs, festivals, and farmers' markets registering and educating voters through tabling, often providing printed information and swag, like buttons and stickers. We learned that including children in our outreach inevitably brings their parents to the table. Thurston County asked children to vote for their favorite animal and gives them an “I Voted” sticker while Snohomish County provided coloring books.
Many local Leagues registered college students on local college campuses. This year, LWV Clark County participated in a “Floats for Votes” event at the WSU-Vancouver campus. LWV Pullman not only registered voters at WSU-Pullman, but also enlisted new League members on campus. With the changes in Washington law, Leagues have also started registering eligible high school students. Thurston County created the “Future Voter Advocates” program where they train teens to register and preregister their peers to vote.
JoNell Edlin, LWV Spokane member, tabling at Gonzaga/Logan Block Party
Increasingly, Local League registration tables pop up anywhere and everywhere, because voters are everywhere. Clark County tabled throughout business districts, while other Leagues tabled at libraries, thrift stores, food banks, and transit hubs. LWV also teamed up with other organizations to celebrate National Voter Registration Day, a civic nonpartisan holiday and this year, LWV Kitsap had almost 40 volunteers at registration desks throughout the county, including riding the ferries!
Leagues also continued to broaden their outreach, registering voters within tribal nations and at cultural events. Snohomish County held a voter registration drive at a popular Mexican market, where two members who are fluent in Spanish provided registration forms and voter information in Spanish. Other local Leagues held voter registration drives at Naturalization Ceremonies; so far this year, the Benton-Franklin League has held events at three citizenship ceremonies.
Candidate Forums
Leagues across the state held over forty candidate events, including debates, forums, and meet and greets. LWVWA held debates for the United States Senate and Washington Secretary of State races. Local leagues covered local elections, state legislative districts, and federal congressional districts, often working together when district boundaries overlapped. LWV Tacoma-Pierce County teamed up with the LWV Thurston County on candidate forums for the 10th US Congressional District this year.
LWV Mason County created a unique Speed Dating with the Candidates event where the public has five minutes with each candidate to ask questions, before moving to the next candidate, and this year, they received national coverage. During the pandemic, many Leagues held candidates debates online and some have continued that practice, while others held hybrid events. LWV Bellingham-Whatcom County also had recordings of candidate debates translated into Spanish and Punjabi to reach more voters.
Leagues also partnered with a variety of organizations within their communities, both local media, such as local community access television stations, and other nonprofits. LWV Yakima County pulled together a number of co-sponsors for a candidate forum, including the NAACP, and Latino Community Fund of Washington State. The newly formed Lewis County Unit-At-Large held a candidate meet and greet with the local chapter of Washington Realtors.
LWV Spokane Area was an indispensable partner to LWVWA for the Washington Secretary of State and US Senate candidate debates, which were held in Spokane in October. They provided invaluable assistance with organizing logistics, providing volunteers, and helping get the word out.
Other Election-Related Activities
While many local Leagues had their hands full with Voter Registration and Candidate Events, that’s not all they did! Some local Leagues, such as LWV Clallam County, volunteered to be election observers. LWV Snohomish County members were enlisted by the county auditor’s office to assist in curing (securing or verifying signatures) ballots after the election. Following the Washington Secretary of State guidelines, Clallam County members also helped a voter in an assisted living facility, by reading the Voter’s Pamphlet so she could make an informed decision.
LWV Kittitas County purchased a banner to encourage voters, which reads, "Be A Voter - Your Vote Counts!" and hung it over University Ave. in Ellensburg. Finally, several local Leagues, including Thurston, participated in Election Heroes Day on November 7 by providing meals and goodies to election workers.
What will your League do for the next election? The time to start preparing is now!
