Eleven members from LWV Snohomish County took the new Sound Transit light rail from Lynnwood to Seattle on Sept. 27 to see Suffs, the Tony Award-winning musical about the women who led the fight to vote in the United States. 

It was a busy day as the Snohomish League also held its annual Fire Up! kickoff meeting in Everett that morning. 

“It was a day of empowerment, history and entertainment,” said Jen Winckler, communications director for the Snohomish League.  “As the League tirelessly pushes forward, it was good to hear reminders of the ‘before’ story from the perspective of the original suffragists.” 

The play was performed at 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle. Winckler said the Snohomish League members who attended the play wore League t-shirts, prompting a number of compliments from others who attended.  

Suffs launched its 27-city North American tour in early September in Yakima.

Snohomish League members who attended the Sept. 27 performance of “Suffs,” the musical about the fight for the vote for women included in the back row, from left, Brenda Mann Harrison, Carol McMahon, Linda Matthews, Lisa Utter; in the middle row, Sonia Siegel Vexler and Jen Winckler; bottom row, Karen Crowley, Cathy Liu Scott, Jilda Nettleton, Micke Rae Fellows and Kim Henry Baumgartner. 

Snohomish League member Wendy Colbert welcomes other area League members to a Civics Storytelling Booth at the Everett branch of the Everett Public Library this afternoon from 3-5 pm. 

Colbert said participants will have an opportunity to record a short personal story using a prompt related to civics, such as “I feel politically powerful when …” or “One piece of advice I’d give to the next generation …” 

The event is hosted by the Office of the Secretary of State’s Civic Engagement Program. Your recording will be archived and, with your permission, may be used in civic education materials.  

Sign Up to Tell Your Story

Yakima County League members who marched in the Sept. 20 Yakima Valley Sunfair parade included Joy McKinney, who dressed as a solar panel, and Janis Luvaas and Cindy Olivas, who carried signs urging people to vote. 

“There were lots of spectators watching the event and sitting or standing, from young to old and some with three generations of family members,” said Olivas, the Yakima League president. 

“It was great to see Native Americans, Asians, Latinos and Caucasians side by side watching the parade.  By the end of the route, my voice was hoarse as I was getting out the message in English and Spanish for people to vote.”  

Olivas said she encountered a number of parade watchers who expressed their appreciation for the League getting people to vote. “It was a proud moment to represent the League of Women Voters of Yakima County and the state of Washington,” Olivas said. 

McKinney walked with the Yakima Climate 350 and Citizens’ Climate Lobby of Yakima organizations. 

Yakima League Members Janis Luvaas and Cindy Olivas Urge Sunfair Attendees to Vote

Are you a person with strong skills in data management? Interested in a highly rewarding project to help Washington citizens make sure they select candidates whose views are more likely to mirror their own? 

Maybe you’re new to the League and you’d like to get to know the political landscape in communities throughout the state. 

The LWVWA is seeking a volunteer project manager to lead its statewide VOTE411 effort.  VOTE411, of course, is the award-winning online platform created by the LWVUS Education Fund to ensure voters in each state have timely and accurate election information every cycle.   

Each state’s VOTE411manager oversees the project from planning and data entry to outreach and launch. Job tasks include developing questions for candidates, processing candidate responses, marketing, ensuring the program maintains its quality standards, balancing timelines and allocating resources. 

Beatrice Crane has led Washington’s VOTE 411 since 2019 and is planning to turn the role over to another leader. The timeline is for a new manager to start in January 2026 with Crane remaining on hand through the year to assist with the transition. 

 “I have enjoyed learning more about the state and its election system and interacting with candidates,” Crane said.  “And it’s been gratifying to end up with a product that does what it’s supposed to do.” 

To apply or learn more, email Karen Crowley at kcrowley@lwvwa.org.

“Revenue and democracy will be the most prominent two,” Stewart said. With democracy being the League’s mission and revenue vital to all legislative decisions, Stewart said all the other issues will be addressed with those realities in mind. 

The Lobby Team consists of League members who serve as issue chairs and have background or experience in about areas in which the League has taken positions after extensive study. 

Issue chairs represent the LWVWA in testimony for and against legislation, coalition-building and other advocacy work.  They are supported by advocates who also have expertise in specific subject areas.  

During the legislative session, the Lobby Team prepares the weekly Legislative Action Newsletter detailing the background and progress of bills of interest to the League and providing subscribers with opportunities to take action on the legislation. 

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The LWVWA has begun a vigorous “Decline to Sign” campaign to block what Advocacy Director Cynthia Stewart calls the most significant challenge to democracy in Washington she’s seen in her lifetime.    

IL26-126 would require all voters to have an enhanced drivers’ license or provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person. Voters who don’t would see their registration canceled. 

More information about the campaign against IL26-126 can be found here. Additionally, Stewart, state League first vice president and chair of the Lobby Team, is available to speak with local Leagues and other groups about the initiative and why the League opposes it so vehemently.  

Contact Stewart here if you’d like her to present to your local League or other group.  

Finally, all local League Communications managers have been provided a social media tool kit to help garner support for the campaign against the initiative. Individual League members are asked to share the posts from their local League website to their personal accounts. Contact LWVWA staff Carolyn Stewart here for assistance.  

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Six positions on the LWVWA board—four directors and two officers—will be open for the 2026-2027 term, which begins in July 2026 and concludes in June 2028. 

The state nominating committee has begun a search for candidates, but all League members in Washington also may apply for a position themselves or recommend a colleague.  

Terms are for two years. Open officer positions will be first vice president and treasurer. 

Strong candidates are passionate about the League’s mission of empowering voters and defending democracy; eager to help advance the League’s strategic goals and transformation; and ready to use their skills and experience to create an even stronger organization. 

Angela Gyruko, a member of the state board and the nominating committee, notes in a separate essay in this edition of In League, the skills you already possess may make you an ideal candidate.  

Gyruko, for instance, joined the board this year in June. As a member from a small, rural unit-at-large, she said she had never considering applying. But when a friend from another League dropped by for lunch one day with a member of the nominating committee, she grew interested. A writer and teacher, Gyruko knew she had skills she could contribute. The following year, she learned the secretary officer post was available.  

“It hasn’t taken me nearly as long as I thought to settle into my new role,” Gyruko said. “Previous board secretary Myra Howrey had the templates and filing system in place and took time after my election to sit down with me and cover everything.” 

She added, “Maybe now is your time to stretch and serve at the LWVWA level.” 

Learn more here on the state League website about serving and applying—or by contacting a member of the nominating committee.

League members who care about the management of Washington’s more than 28,000 miles of shoreline have an opportunity this month and in November and December to influence state requirements that all jurisdictions will have to adhere to in coming years. 

Ann Aagaard

League member Ann Aagaard, an author of the LWVWA’s recent shoreline study, said League members who were involved in the study, read it or participated in the consensus process will be a step ahead of other attendees at one or all three of the public meetings that will be held in connection with rulemaking proceedings.  

The open houses, hosted by the state Department of Ecology, are set for Oct. 21, Nov. 18 or Dec. 16 on Zoom. 

“They’ll already have an introduction to these issues,” Aagaard said.  

But Aagaard added that even if an attendee isn’t familiar with the study, material presented at the open houses will not be overly technical or mystifying. “It’ll be informal and pleasant.” 

After the two-year study, “The Shoreline Management Act at 50+ Years,”was completed in 2023, state League members adopted positions related to how our shorelines should be cared for.Those positions, Aagaard said, will be the basis of League advocacy during the rulemaking proceedings.    

Counties throughout the state are preparing updates to their individual General Plans, where rules on a range of issues, including shoreline management, are set and which jurisdictions are required to adhere to.   

Register for the open houses here.   

The LWVWA’s next online Democracy Power Up! workshop will help you make sense of the onslaught of information that comes our way every day through every kind of media. 

“Making Sense of Information,” a 90-minute interactive workshop – for League members only –on Oct. 28 will help you better understand the information ecosystem and become a savvier media and news consumer.  

You’ll learn to better discern if the information you receive is true or false, or misleading, or something else. 

Register here for the event, the second of four educational Media & News Literacy workshops by the LWVWA Local News and Democracy Advocacy and Education Committee. 

As part of the Democracy Power-Up! series, the workshop is designed to help members respond to the constitutional crisis we face. 

Make the most out of the training, and view this eight-minute introduction in advance. 

Register Today