The League of Women Voters is strongly associated with its civics education and voter services work—for a good reason! Civics ed and voter services is a crucial part of the work the League does, and 2023-2024 for the League was no exception to this. Read below for some updates on the civics ed and voters services work going on around the state.

Civic Education
The Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is supporting the LWVWA civics textbooks, The State We’re In: Washington (TSWI), through two contracts. One contract focuses on the Spanish translation of the textbooks, and related materials, for the OSPI Dual Language program. The second contract, a legislative proviso, will pay for the printing of the Spanish-translated TSWI (grades 3-5) edition. Copies of the textbooks and other materials are available here.

Several local Leagues have received civic education grants in 2023-24 through the LWVWA Education Fund. LWV Jefferson County received funding for an essay contest for high-school aged students, with the essay question, “Voting is the core tenant of our democracy. If you could vote in the 2024 election, what would you say is the most important issue influencing your vote?” Other examples of civic education grant award recipients include LWV Kittitas County's Presidental Primary panel discussion and funds for LWV Clark County purchase TSWI for local schools.

For more information on applying for LWVWA civic education grants, members should read the civic education grant guidelines in the LWVWA Education Fund Handbook (page 21). The application form is available here.

Voter Services
Each month, members from Leagues across the state get together to hear presenters and share ideas on how to 'Get Out the Vote' in 2024. The meetings are planned and facilitated by Cam Kerst (LWV Bellingham/Whatcom County), Beth Pellicciotti (LWV Spokane Area), Julie Sarkissian (LWV Seattle/King County), and Mary Schick (LWV Clark County). If you would like to see recordings and annotations of the recordings, contact Beth Pellicciotti.

Below is a list of the 'Get Out the Vote' Voter Services meetings so far this year:

January—Presidential Primary. Charli Sorenson (LWV Kittitas County) described her League’s upcoming panel discussion on the presidential primary. Other Leagues shared their outreach on the Presidential Primary with their focus on high school and college students.

February—Tabling with a Purpose. Mary Schick (LWV Clark County) presented her League’s outreach to voters through “pop-up” tables; Cam Kerst (LWV Bellingham/Whatcom County) described messaging to students at Western Washington University; and Karen Crowley and Jeanne Crevier (LWV Snohomish County) shared how to reach out to underserved voters by partnering with Goodwill.

March—Ballots. Members learned from Julie Ann Kempf (LWV Seattle/King County) about initiatives that are on track to appear on the ballots in November. LWVWA President Mary Coltrane explained the need for neutrality when members represent voter services and explain initiatives. Members shared how their League worked with voters on ballots; a good portion of the meeting was dedicated to group sharing.
 
April—Outreach to Gen Z and Millennial Voters. Mary Schick (LWV Clark County) described the differences between the 2020 and 2024 election years. She covered messaging to Gen Z and Millennial voters, strategies and challenges in motivating younger folks to vote, and simple steps in grabbing voters’ attention.
 
May—New Election Laws. Dietrich Romero, Voter Education and Outreach Specialist with the Washington Secretary of State's Office, will describe changes in the 2024 election laws and in the online voter registration system, votewa.gov.   

Voter services work also includes the work of the LWVWA Election Credibility Committee (Video Contest Committee). Polly Zetterberg (LWV Seattle/King King County) leads the work of this committee which again hosted their annual video contest for high school students. The students' videos set out to showcase the importance of voting and the stability of our election system. Local Leagues played an important part in promoting the contest! The judges are currently reviewing the 2024 submissions.