Sen. Maria Cantwell, left, Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey and Nancy Halvorson, LWVWA board member discuss the threats to democracy posed by the SAVE America Act.

By Dee Anne Finken, Communications Portfolio Director, LWV of Washington

With former Clark County League president Nancy Halvorson and others at her side, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell was in Vancouver Wednesday morning to explain how costly the passage of the SAVE America Act would be for Americans.

“Time, money and maybe even their vote,” Cantwell said at a news conference in the Clark County Elections Office in downtown Vancouver.

Proclaiming the SAVE America Act as misleading and misguided, Cantwell said she would issue a snapshot report in the next day or two detailing the significant harms the bill would create.

But during Wednesday’s brief conference, Cantwell said immediate action is needed in light of President Trump’s insistence that massive fraud exists, necessitating the legislation.

Cantwell invited the League to participate as representative of an organization recognized widely for its commitment to voting and election security. As of press time, Sen. Cantwell had plans to hold another news conference in Seattle on Thursday, to which the League has also been invited. Seattle King County League President Barbara Tengtio is scheduled to speak at that event.

The House of Representatives passed the SAVE America Act earlier this month; it is currently under consideration in the Senate.

“We need to fight back,” Cantwell said, adding the bill poses grave harm, particularly for senior citizens, rural voters and working parents, as they would be most hard-pressed to produce the additional documents the act calls for them to produce.   

The bill also would significantly affect individuals who take their spouse’s name when they marry. 

Numerous sources estimate more than 21 million Americans would be unable to present the additional required documents, including marriage certificates and passports.  

What’s more, the bill would take effect immediately, Cantwell said.

Both Cantwell and Halvorson said Trump’s calls to nationalize elections are particularly onerous. 

Halvorson, who served as Co-president of the Clark League from 2020-21; President from 2021-23 and again 2024-25, said, “Let’s be clear:  The SAVE America Act is about restricting access to the ballot and deciding who gets to participate in our democracy. And the League stands in resolute opposition to assaults on our democracy.”

Halvorson used this analogy to address the claims about voter fraud: “A person is more likely to be struck by lightning than they are to commit voter fraud.”  

Cantwell said she was drawn to speak in the Vancouver-Portland area because of the area’s experience with threats to voting. Three ballot boxes in the region were set afire in October 2024. 

Cantwell said federal involvement in elections, particularly by the FBI, should be limited to investigating incidents like that.

Also speaking at the news conference were Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey and the Rev. Michael Jones Jr., vice president of the NAACP, Clark County chapter.  
“This is not just a political issue,” Jones said.  “It’s a civil rights issue.” He pointed to the disenfranchisement that resulted from poll taxes and other efforts in the 1950s and ‘60s to block Black Americans from voting.

Halvorson, who is a member of LWVWA board, emphasized the League’s nonpartisan status and reiterated that protecting the right to vote, granted by the U.S. Constitution, is neither solely a Republican or Democratic concern.

The League returns to Lacey, a suburb of Olympia the first weekend June, for its biennial council with “The Power of Us” as its theme. 

Registration is open now. 

Hosted by the state League and with volunteers from South Puget Sound-area Leagues, official proceedings begin Saturday, June 6, with optional activities kicking off June 5. Those activities include a walking tour of the capitol grounds, dine-around dinners and hotel-room caucuses. 

“Think of council as an innovation lab, where members and leaders come together to learn, share and shape the future of the League,” said board member Angela Gyurko, the event’s coordinator.  

With the focus on innovation, Gyurko said members are asked to submit proposals for workshops on topics that will lead to deep discussions at council and actions that members can pursue in their local Leagues when they return.  Proposals are Due by April 15, so please be thinking about submissions now!

“The Power of Us,” Gyurko said, takes a look at our power as individuals and leaders to influence change in our communities; to innovate boldly by empowering voters and defending democracy; and to unify and stand strong with our partners. 

Workshops, caucuses and plenary sessions will be at the South Puget Sound Community College, Lacey campus. Lodging is a 6-minute walk, at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Lacey, where the League has reserved a block of rooms; and at nearby Candlewood Suites Olympia/Lacey. 

Eager to involve newer members, event organizers have set a reduced attendance fee—$60—for those who’ve joined the League in the past year, or since June 2025. Early-bird rate for all others is $115 until May 15. After that, it’s $135.  

Included in the registration will be lunch, snacks, happy hour, and buffet dinner on Saturday, and snacks only on Sunday. Coffee, tea, and water will also be provided. Attendees are asked to bring their own coffee cups. 

Twelve volunteers are needed to help onsite and will be able to register at a reduced rate. Email agyurko@lwvwa.org for more information or to volunteer. 

Council will be primarily in person this year, with provisions mostly to allow virtual attendees to view the plenary and workshop sessions and vote. (The early-bird virtual rate is $25 and $35 for regular virtual.) 

Two years ago, council also took place in Lacey. Organizers value the central location and reasonable rates charged for lodging and facilities. 

By Jane McClure, Student Video Contest Committee co-chair, LWV of Washington

If ever there was a time for the LWVWA Annual Student Video Contest to be top of mind in high schools, that time is now.  

The curse of “living in interesting times,” reportedly to be of Chinese origin, is here in challenges to both our constitution and democratic way of life.

Could there be a better time to hear from the next generation of voters? 

The League created the statewide video contest, now in its fourth year, to help develop students’ perspectives about voting. This year’s focus, on election credibility, is intended to spark early engagement in the process and to encourage a lifetime of voting. 

We know instilling those values in young people can lead to higher turnout rates. Students who create content for one another can inspire a culture of voting among peers and family.  

Winners receive cash prizes and, although the awards are modest, all participants can list their involvement on their college applications.  

Additionally, students learn video production, storytelling and persuasive communication; they increase their understanding of voting and democracy issues; and both they and their videos are featured on official election websites and other platforms. 

Community members also benefit because the videos can clarify voting mechanisms, counter election misinformation and increase awareness. 

Contest committee members are in their final push to get students to submit their videos by the May 1 deadline. As a League member, you can help. Because one-to-one contact helps generate interest, we ask you to encourage civic education teachers and others to involve their students. Contact high school students you know and encourage them to develop compelling videos. 

The contest empowers students, fosters civic engagement and cultivates a new generation of informed voters.  

Contest details and resources for students and educators are HERE.

The Everett Herald featured this solid report about the video contest Wednesday morning by Snohomish League President Lisa Utter.

Jane McClure has been a member of the League of Women Voters of Snohomish County since 2018. 

By Karen Crowley, President and Education Committee Portfolio Chair, LWV of Washington

The League is committed to civic education for all ages and at all levels. But here’s a basic truth. If we want to create an informed, engaged electorate and ensure the ongoing health of our democracy, we need to energize today’s students.  

After all, they are tomorrow’s voters. 

Thanks to legislation sponsored by former state Rep. Laurie Dolan, and with robust support from the League, civic education is mandated for all high school graduates in Washington.  

What’s more, the League has created a complete suite of civic learning materials endorsed by the Washington State Council for Social Studies and the Washington State Indian Education Association: “The State We’re In: Washington.”  

The state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Education, too, has adopted the textbooks and has made them available as Open Educational Resources. 

We are proud of these resources. They are the only comprehensive civic education textbooks in Washington that include information on tribal government. We produce textbooks for middle and high school and for grades 3-5, including a Spanish translation. You can explore these books and a full range of supporting materials HERE. 

More than 45 school districts across the state use these resources.It’s time to hear from them. Our Civic Education Committee is working with the public affairs and marketing firm Strategies360 to reach teachers in those 45 districts, as well as home school educators.  

We are asking how teachers feel about the materials, how they use them in the classroom, what works well, what updates would be helpful, and how can we improve. 

We’ve sent our survey to nearly 100 educators. Their input will be critical to expanding the use of these materials—and to developing our long-term plan to sustain and improve them. We will share what we learn with all of you. 

And there is more.  

This March, Education Committee members Bonnie Bless-Boenish and Karen Verrill will attend the Washington Council for the Social Studies spring conference in Tacoma: Narratives of Our Nation: Stories, Strategies, and Skills for the Classroom.  

Crescent School District teacher MacKenzie Maxwell will present a session describing how she uses “The State We’re In: Washington” in her fourth-grade classroom. This project is funded through an Education Fund grant. We look forward to listening and learning from Maxwell.  

Contact Amy Peloff,  apeloff@lwvwa.org , if you have questions about helping to expand the use of “The State We’re In: Washington” into districts in your area.

Responding to this query from the Yakima Immigrant Response Network, League members in Kittitas County are providing second-hand suitcases for immigrant families who’ve had a family member taken into custody.  

Charli Sorenson, Kittitas League vice president, said a YIRN contact explained the suitcases are needed by families relocating closer to where the Department of Homeland Security has sent a loved one. Additionally, if DHS shares details about where a family member has been moved, the suitcases are used to send fresh clothes and other items.   

“Otherwise, the resident is often deported with nothing—no clothes except for what they were arrested in—and with no money,” Sorenson said. 

Sorenson said the initial request from YIRN came shortly before Christmas. “Our members responded with eight suitcases and we agreed to keep collecting them.”  

The following month, another request came—and League members donated eight more.  

“The families have been very happy to receive them,” Sorenson said learned. 

In addition to YIRN, Kittitas League also collaborates on other projects to serve immigrants with the Student Leadership, Involvement & Community Engagement program at Central Washington University and Central Washington Legal Aid. 

Nadine Shanti, who boldly leads League volunteers throughout Snohomish County, was recognized earlier this month by the city of Mountlake Terrace for her efforts to empower voters.

Chair of the Snohomish County League’s Community Outreach Committee, Shanti rallies parade walkers, engages bystanders in chanting and talks with community members about voting power.  

As part of the city’s 2026 celebration of Black History Month, Shanti was among the Black women honored at a Feb. 5 ceremony for their leadership of students at Mountlake Terrace High School. 

Shanti and Snohomish County League volunteers registered 88 voters at the high school in January and talked with more than 130 students about voting and registering. 

In total in January, the volunteers visited nine high schools and spoke with more than 1,100 students. 

The proclamation extended to Shanti read: “Nadine and the League are passionate about registering voters in high schools and ensuring young people are prepared to exercise their right to vote on election day.”  

It continued: “Through voter outreach at our very own Mountlake Terrace High School - but also at four of our Everett School District High Schools as well as in Everett and Marysville, Nadine and the Community Outreach Committee have helped empower future voters and strengthen civic participation in our community. 

“We are grateful for her leadership and the League’s continued commitment to democracy.”

By Dee Anne Finken, Communications Portfolio Director, LWV of Washington

A recent survey of Seattle King County League members has produced a bounty of insights, including some that might apply to other local Leagues.

Karen Lenart said the outcome—based on 74 responses from the 574 Seattle King County League members surveyed—gives leaders a close look at what makes the local League tick. 

The effort, conducted in December, was designed to get to know members better and to offer programming based on what experiences members sought when they joined. 

“Seattle King County League has an incredibly untapped wealth of members and we only skim the top in terms of what our members have to offer,” she said. 

The survey sought answers to four primary questions: Why a member joined; specific experiences a member sought in joining; what skills a member brought to the organization; and the member’s volunteer or career experience. 

Most respondents cited their primary reason for joining as a chance to defend democracy and protect voting rights.  That response won out over ensuring eligible voters are registered and informed about candidates and issues. 

Members said they prefer attending meetings where discussion is a major feature. Less popular are meetings with experts who primarily lecture.  

Most favored topics of discussion are about empowering voters and defending democracy.  Hearing about action-oriented ideas followed in second place.    

What skills do members bring?  

About half have backgrounds or training in education, writing and event planning.  Thirty percent have experience in government public service and volunteer coordination.  Only a smattering are visual artists. 

Lenart, a retired pediatric nurse practitioner and educator who performed some survey work in her career, joined the League in 2022. The following year, she read in a League newsletter about a proposed study on immigrants and joined the committee that has since produced “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington.”   

Lenart is working with study co-chairs Susan F. Martin and Lydia Zepeda on national concurrence of the study’s resulting position. “It’s been interesting and informative,” Lenart said. 

Lenart and the LWVSKC Board are planning how to survey new members and use the data to reach out and involve them in League activities.  One addition would be to request recipients include their names to allow for better outreach and to make follow-up possible. “I think we need to be more directive, to do more personal outreach.”  

Local League President Barb Tengtio added: “From volunteering on specific events, like voter outreach and/or advocacy; to leading/working on committees or in units; to supporting LWVSKC communications and operations to being a LWVSKC Board member, we have so many opportunities. Understanding the interests and skill sets of our members through a periodic survey is one way we aim to maximize member engagement.” 

Organizers of the Resisting Threats to Democracy committee will host a “Democracy Power-Up!” virtual town hall on Wednesday, March 25, from 6:30-8 pm. 

Almost a year ago, as the Trump administration expanded its assaults on our democracy and the LWVUS deemed our nation was facing a constitutional crisis, LWVWA leaders began meeting weekly to consider how they could best guide members to respond.   

Born from that was the Resisting Threats to Democracy committee, which meets weekly and produces the Resisting Threats to Democracy newsletter. 

The town hall comes as the Legislature nears the end of its session end, providing members the opportunity to plan collectively for the remainder of 2026.  

Organizers Alison McCaffree, who leads the state Lobby Team’s Democracy effort, and Wendy Colbert from the Snohomish County League, said members will also be able to ask questions and meet in breakout groups to determine those next steps. 

Register here to attend. The end of the legislative session will also mark the return of the RTD newsletter, which has been on hiatus since Jan. 8. 

The theme of the 2025 art competition was honoring the relationships between Native America and the USA while highlighting Native resilience, sovereignty, and modern identity, as illustrated by this entry.

“90% Happens Locally” is the theme of this year’s League of Women Voters of Pullman Annual Visual Arts Competition. 

Contest organizers unveiled the theme on Presidents’ Day this week, as they have done since the contest was launched four years ago. 

The idea is to highlight “the power of our voices, our votes, and our actions to create change in our own communities,” said Carolyn Joswig-Jones, Pullman League member and event committee chair. 

Youngsters ages 8 to 18 who attend public or private school— or who are homeschooled—in Whitman County are eligible to participate. Entries are due March 31. 

Creating art isn’t the only reason for the event. The emphasis each year is on civics and a theme plucked from the LWVWA’s award-winning civics education textbook, “The State We’re In.”   

Joswig-Jones said the contest prompts families to talk about civics and voting. “The biggest part of our program is education.”   

“The State We’re In” is made available to teachers and classrooms across the state in two editions, one for seventh to 12^th graders and for grades three to five. Both are available as free PDFs as well. More than 23,000 copies of the books have been distributed statewide.   

More information about the competition is available here.   

Lyn Whitley, a member of the state Local News & Democracy team since its inception in 2022, participated earlier this week in a 90-minute “Why Local Media Matters” presentation sponsored by the Northern California LWV of Northern & Central San Mateo County.

Whitley, of the Whidbey Island League, titled her presentation “It’s Not a Journalism Problem. It’s a Democracy Problem,” a perspective shared by Washington State University journalism professor Benjamin Shors in the Washington League’s study, “The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Our Democracy.” 

The Zoom presentation also featured a vice president of the American Journalism Project and the publisher of the San Mateo Daily Journal. 

Whitley discussed the efforts involved by the LWVWA to secure national adoption of the Local News & Democracy position in 2024 and shared details about the team’s recent advocacy and education work.