Winners of the LWVJC 2025 Essay Contest are, from left, Claire Porter (first place), Livia Lee (second place) and Calliope Mosher (third place). Porter and Lee are from Port Townsend High School and Mosher is from Chimicum High School.

In 1919, a year before women won the right to vote, League of Women Voters founder Carrie Chapman Catt announced three goals for the newly formed organization. One was to “make democracy so safe for the nation and so safe for the world that every citizen feels secure.”  

Borrowing from that idea, the League of Jefferson County on May 1 kicked off its fourth annual essay contest for high schoolers with this prompt:  

How as voters can we ensure that democracy is safe and citizens feel secure? 

The students’ responses will be published in June. If they are anything like last year’s, they will be heartbreaking, refreshing, moving and thought-provoking — so much so that the judges will have a hard time narrowing down the winners, said Karen Steinmaus, the local League’s essay contest lead. 

“Our high schoolers are definitely engaged, writing on immigration, LGBT rights, and federal funding cuts that impact school lunch programs,” Steinmaus added. 

Ninety-six high school-age students participated in 2025, thanks to outreach by League members to civics, history and science teachers in Jefferson County schools, and to home-schooled students.   

Prize money came from the Jefferson League’s Civic Education Grant fund. Steinmaus said the League last year was able increase prize payouts to $500 for the first-place finisher, $300 for second and $150 for third.  

By Judy Hucka, co-president, LWV of Whidbey Island

The Whidbey Island League has co-sponsored all of the past year’s pro-democracy rallies on the island:  Hands Off, Make Good Trouble and No Kings.  

But rallies aren’t eveyone’s cup of tea, and we wanted to do something that offered more tangible ways to advocate for our democracy. 

Thus was born the April 18 Democracy Fest, a nonpartisan and “big-tent” event emphasizing education, celebration and fun for all that took place at Greenbank Farm. Response exceeded our hopes, with more than 350 attendees, including about 50 young future voters and quite a few “dogs for democracy” walking their humans.  

The vibe resembled that of a county fair, with music, games and food trucks. 

A few highlights: 

• The arrival, on horseback, of Paul Revere and under-recognized 16-year-old Sybil Ludington, who performed a rousing skit about their courageous rides to warn “the British are coming” during the Revolutionary War. Coincidently, the fest was held on the 251st anniversary of Revere’s famous 1775 ride. 

• A democracy trivia contest with questions from the new U.S. citizenship test 

• A kids’ voting booth, where future voters weighed in on how to solve problems facing Whidbey’s animals. Dog-friendly fireworks was the winner, edging out reducing marine plastic pollution to save the orcas and improving deer-crossing safety. 

• Workshops by the Island County elections supervisor on election security 

• A democracy sing-along and tribal stories from America’s oldest democracy 

• Tables with information on voter registration, voting rights legislation and voting threats  

The event was organized by the Whidbey Island Pro-Democracy Coalition, which includes the League, Indivisible Whidbey, and several other local democracy advocates. 

 All in all, it was a community-building day, reminding us all that “democracy is not a spectator sport!”  

Now in its fifth year, the League of Women Voters of Pullman’s annual Visual Arts Competition is a wrap with students from throughout the county having explored civic life through a variety of creative expressions. 

The competition’s theme, inspired by Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown’s message at the state League Convention in June, was “90% Happens Locally.” 

Students in grades 3–12 reflected on how local government decisions shape their daily lives — and their responses were thoughtful, imaginative, and inspiring. 

Judging the artwork was no easy task. A panel of local leaders — including the Pullman mayor, a Pullman City Council member, and the Whitman County Auditor— reviewed each piece, considering a work’s relevance to the theme, visual effectiveness, originality, and clarity of message.  

The art was displayed at Neill Public Library, giving the community an opportunity to view entries. The exhibit culminated in a mid-April Artists’ Reception, highlighted by students speaking about their work.   

Additional displays are planned in downtown Pullman for the May Art Walk and at the Whitman County Library’s Libey Gallery through June. 

Supported by the League’s Education Fund, the program connects youth, art and civic understanding, said event committee chair Carolyn Joswig-Jones. 

As partisan redistricting and the elimination of voting protections dominate the news, the LWVWA and the Washington Redistricting Commission Reform Task Force continue their move toward a better plan. 

Tune in May 26 for the latest LWVWA Democracy Power-Up and learn about the solution proposed by democracy advocates detailed in “Putting People First,” a new report analyzing the results of an important survey conducted last fall. 

Based on five years of study and analysis, the People First Commission would strengthen transparency, accountability, access and citizen engagement. California, Michigan and Colorado already have such commissions. 

This is an opportunity to stand up against partisan gerrymandering to build toward true reform. 

The one-hour power-up will be offered twice on Zoom. Register for the noon presentation or the 6:30 p.m. presentation.   

Questions? Email Alison McCaffree, Redistricting Issue Chair, at amccaffree@lwvwa.org. 

Three high school seniors in Benton and Franklin counties will learn this month that they’ve each been awarded a $2,500 scholarship that honors a League member who worked tirelessly to promote democracy, teach civics and introduce young people to voting. 

The Marilyn Perkins Scholarship honors a woman who served as local League president and as member of the state League board. Perkins moderated many candidate forums and was deeply involved in other League efforts. She died in 2021. 

Scholarship committee co-chairs Judy Golberg and Peggy Gregory said criteria for the Perkins scholarship were designed to enable a diverse population of students to be considered.  

Grades are less important than students’ desire to further their education, Goldberg said. Winners may use the funds to attend trade school or pursue other avenues of higher learning.  

Previous years’ winners, Golberg said, “have been quite ambitious, involved in the communities and are doing well in their lives.”  

She added, “Our winners have come from small farming communities as well as our larger school districts.” 

Applicants submit 500-word essays on a theme selected each year by the scholarship committee. Themes have included voting in local elections and how to encourage one’s peers to vote.  This year’s theme is whether the Electoral College serves the country well or should be abolished.  

When the scholarship was founded in 2022, two winners received $1,000.  Perkins’ husband, John Perkins, made an initial donation to support the program for five years. Additional donations have continued to come in from League members and others in the community.  

Nearly 90 Kittitas-area middle school students participated in a regional civics competition hosted by the local chamber of commerce and affiliated with the National Civics Bee. League helped with various aspects of the event.  At one point in the event, audience members were invited to participate, too. 

Kittitas and Spokane Leagues have been busy in recent months guiding young people to learn more about civics by way of competition.  

In Kittitas County, Charli Sorenson reported the local League accepted an invitation from the county’s chamber of commerce for the first time to help with a nonpartisan competition for middle-schoolers affiliated withthe National Civics Bee.

Meanwhile, the Spokane-area League participated this spring in the KSPS public media-sponsored Civics Bowl, featuring high school students answering questions about American, Washington state and tribal history and government in a Jeopardy-like format. This is the Spokane-area League’s fourth year to be involved. 

Eight Spokane-area high schools competed, said Beth Pellicciotti, Civic Education Committee chair.  

Pellicciotti said the Spokane League’s sponsorship is vital to the broadcast as more than a dozen League members wrote hundreds of questions based on Spokane Public School history texts, which include the LWVWA’s The State We’re In: Washington text. 

Competition in Spokane continues with the semi-finals wrapping up next week and the final round set for June 1.   

Pellicciotti noted that prior to the first competition recording this year, Spokane League and community members participated in a dress rehearsal. “Even if they didn’t get all the correct answers, they still had fun!” 

In Central Washington, meanwhile, Sorenson said Kittitas was one of only a handful of chambers in the state to participate in the national chamber-sponsored contest. “We helped publicize the event, contacted local schools to urge student/teacher participation, contributed volunteers, and added to the prize pots,” said Sorenson, the local League’s vice president. 

“This event knocked our socks off - it was well organized, the kids were awesome, and we received many 'thank you!’s” and 'see you next year!,” Sorenson said. “We encourage other Leagues to explore co-sponsorship of this civics event in upcoming years.”  

In Kittitas, nearly 90 students submitted essays based on a uniform prompt that asked them to propose an idea for improving their community.  From that, 20 students we selected for the in-person contest.  The first-place finisher won $650, with $350 and $175 going to the second- and third-place finishers. 

Winners will go on to compete at the state level early this summer.  

The competition boosted student understanding of civics and its importance to democracy as well as expanded public awareness of the League’s work, Sorenson said. “It underlines our support of civics and democracy. It keeps us in the public eye.” 

Carolyn Byerly, a Thurston County League board member, addresses the audience at a recent “Local News Crisis!” forum at Saint Martin’s University. Also speaking were Jill Severn, a columnist for The JOLT and author of the LWVWA’s “The State We’re In” civics textbook series; and Bill Will, former executive director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.

A “Local News Crisis!” forum co-hosted by the Thurston County League in early April drew 300 people to hear how monopoly ownership and hedge-fund buyouts have helped create news deserts across the country. Those areas are served by no local news outlets.  

Nationally recognized media scholar Victor Pickard, via Zoom, emphasized the danger the situation poses to democracy. 

Both policy and market failures are to blame for the loss of local news, Pickard said. Federal policies have enabled consolidation.

The result is a lack of news and a proliferation of misinformation — much of which appears on social media, to which the public increasingly turns for information. 

Other speakers included Carolyn Byerly, professor emerita, Howard University, and a LWVTC board member; Jill Severn, columnist for The Journal of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater, and author of the state League’s “The State We’re In” civics textbook series; Bill Will, former executive director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and chair of The JOLT board of directors; and Danny Stusser, founder and publisher of The JOLT (the Journal of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater).  

Byerly shared details of the state League’s study “The Decline in Local News and Its Impact on Democracy,” which was completed in 2022 and led to adoption of the state League’s, and ultimately, the national League’s, position. The position states that government has a responsibility to support conditions under which credible local journalism can survive and thrive.  It supports new funding models for local news. The JOLT, a non-profit organization, represents one of those emerging models.  

The JOLT and OlyFed, a mutual savings bank, also co-sponsored the event, which took place at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey. 

League members looking to protect equitable access to sports for Washington girls and access for vulnerable students to trusted adults about sensitive questions will soon get support for how to best address these issues with the public.  

The state League Board voted in January to sign on to the NO Hate in WA State campaign against the two initiatives which will be on the Nov. 3 ballot.   

Karen Tvedt, who leads the Social and Economic Justice efforts of the state Lobby Team, told the LWVWA board of directors in late April that she and fellow Lobby Team colleagues are working on strategy based on League positions, joining with other like-minded activists, and preparing documents for members to use to defeat IL26-001 and IL26-638 and protect Washington children. 

IL26-001 seeks to reverse legislation passed by the Legislature in 2025 and would undo protections for vulnerable students. The initiative has been described as “much ado about nothing” as the parental rights it is purported to protect have already been firmly established in federal and state law for nearly 50 years.

IL26-638seeks to subject ALL girls wishing to participate on sports teams to invasive medical exams to prove that they are biologically female. The initiative does not apply to boy athletes – just girls.  League leaders note it could result in thousands of girls seeking to play sports having to undergo invasive genital exams. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction estimates that only a handful of trans girls would be found ineligible to play girls sports if IL-638 were to pass. Girls of color and those living in poverty are likely to suffer the most harm.

The state board voted to oppose both proposals in January, when the measures were introduced as initiatives to the Legislature. When the Legislature declined to take action on the bills by the close of the 2026 legislative session, the measures became initiatives to the public that voters will see on the November mid-term ballot. 

The League’s opposition to both measures stems from its long-standing positions on equal access to fair and equitable education, equal treatment and privacy rights. 

Because the state League opposes the initiatives, League members are free to provide information about the cons of these initiatives at tabling events, according to state President Karen Crowley. 

More information about the campaign is available from No Hate in WA State, Vote No on IL26-001 & IL26-638.   

“We’re looking to make ourselves available to do presentations to local Leagues about the campaign and help members better understand what the initiatives are and what they would do,” Tvedt said. 

By Kate Hobbie, LWV of Clark County

The event was titled You Can Run for Office, but when she joined the planning team for it last year, Kate Castenson wasn’t thinking of running herself. As she listened to the panel of current and former local public officials, though, she felt “energized” — especially when an outgoing planning commissioner encouraged her to consider that role.  

“The more I learned that day, the more I felt this could be a great way to make a difference in the city’s future,” she said. “I thought the event would be about me encouraging others to run, but I wound up catching the bug myself!” 

You Can Run for Office is a project of the League of Women Voters of Clark County that offers insights and training for people interested in serving on a local government board. The public sessions have drawn dozens of participants over the past two years.    

Castenson, a Claremont McKenna College graduate,is now serving a four-year term on the Vancouver Planning Commission, an advisory body for the city.     

No stranger to public service, Castenson holds a master’s degree in international human rights and has worked with a variety of organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross.  

Last year, when her 10-year job with Portland-based Mercy Corps ended after federal funding cuts, she shifted her focus from the international scene and asked, “What would it be like to be more engaged locally?” 

Already a member of LWV of Clark County, she then had time to serve on the board and chair the Action and Advocacy Committee. 

 At 38, Castenson is younger than most League members. “What drew me was the nonpartisanship, along with the focus on foundational issues of our democracy that have become so important now,” she said.  

“This work needs everyone to be engaged, and we need pathways for younger members — including students — who maybe can’t attend every meeting but want to work on a specific issue or short-term project.” 

Castenson’s League volunteer work helped prepare her for the planning commission, which she jumped into at full speed.The city is in the final stages of updating its comprehensive plan for the next 20 years.  

She’s digested hundreds of pages of background information. “You need to know the material so you can articulate it in a way the public understands and anticipate their questions,” she said. 

Being a League board member familiarized her with how to run a meeting (“I hadn’t read Robert’s Rules since high school!”), how to lead confidently, and how to handle tough conversations.  

“There will always be those who think you’re not going in the right direction, and you have to accept that with grace and empathy,” she said. “Through the League, I’ve gained comfort in facilitation and consensus-building.”  

Castenson joins a long list of League members in public office. A prime example is Kim Abel, former mayor of Port Orchard and a longtime leader in the Washington State and Kitsap County leagues.  

Public office “wasn’t on my horizon” when she joined LWV in 1997, Abel said. “But we were so encouraged to get involved with government, go to meetings and speak out. At some point I told myself, ‘You can do this’ — and it didn’t feel scary because of my League experience.”  

Abel credits LWV with teaching her that “the issues we care about are all interconnected,”and “you can’t make changes overnight.”  

It also sharpened her group listening skills:“Understanding that there are different perspectives and all of them matter – that’s the heart of the League consensus process, and it is key in government.” 

Castenson would certainly agree — and she said as much at this year’s You Can Run for Office.  

“What qualities does it take to be on a board or commission? Most important is a deep commitment to the city and its residents, and a willingness to listen and engage,” she told workshop participants.  

 “Instead of asking ‘Why me?’, ask yourself ‘Why not me?’” 

The LWVWA’s position titled “Protecting the Rights of Immigrants” won a significant endorsement earlier this month when the national League recommended members across the country adopt the position by way of the process known as concurrence.  

Adopting the position would allow all Leagues to lobby for legislation that would protect the rights of immigrants residing in our communities. 

Meanwhile, state and local Leagues across the country also continue to extend their support for the position as the 57th biennial national convention nears. Members attending the June 25-27 event in Columbus, Ohio, will vote on whether the position, which affirms the rights of immigrants, should become a national policy.  

The endorsement does not guarantee national adoption but rather encourages members to vote in favor of it. Two years ago, the Washington state League’s position on Local News & Democracy also received a recommendation to support and membership handily adopted that position by a 859-63 vote.  

“We are extremely grateful to the national League for its support and for their decision to recommend our position for adoption,” said Susan Martin, chair of the campaign to secure concurrence. She, along with Lobby Team Immigrants Issue Chair Lydia Zepeda, wrote the study that led to state adoption of the Washington position. 

"The acknowledgement from the national League reinforces that the League is an organization that is committed to our democracy and is willing to stand tall to make ours a better world,” added Martin, former executive director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. 

In informing Washington State League leadership of the national board’s recommendation, LWVUS consultant Betsy Lawson wrote, “As part of the recommended program, the LWVUS board is recommending concurrence with the LWVWA position-in-brief, Protecting the Rights of Immigrants.” 

She explained that the position-in-brief provides “a thorough and overarching position that will complement the existing LWVUS position on Immigration. 

Nearly 10 state Leagues and more than three dozen local Leagues have indicated they will vote to adopt the position, Martin noted. 

The Port Washington-Manhasset League on Long Island’s north shore in New York, wrote last month to salute the study the League published in 2024, and the respective position on Protecting the Rights of Immigrants: 

We appreciate all your efforts in creating such a readable, comprehensive, inspiring study — and a position which is both general enough to be aspirational and specific enough to use for advocacy. That is a tough balancing act. 

Your ease with the subject matter is apparent ... and clearly speaks to decades of involvement and passion in building your expertise. We benefited tonight and we hope many more Leagues will be able to use your position in the coming months and years. We, as a country, certainly need it." 

Martin and Zepeda will attend the convention, titled “Women Unite & Rise.” Representing the state League will be President Karen Crowley, Director Roberta Soltz and Alison McCaffree, who chairs the LWVWA Washington Redistricting Reform Task Force and is the Lobby Team’s Issue Chair for Democracy. 

Washington members adopted the position in June 2025 at the state convention. At the upcoming national convention, using a process called concurrence, other Leagues can adopt the position without the rigorous study required of an initial adoption. Concurrence would enable League members nationwide to advocate legislatively on behalf of immigrants. 

Meanwhile, LWVWA is using its position to educate Washingtonians about the rights of immigrants and to lobby and advocate for measures that ensure that immigrants, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, are treated with respect and dignity.  

Martin prepared an op-ed article, “Immigrant Detention in America,” which was published late last month in the Journal of the San Juan Islands newspaper. Zepeda’s “Weekly Legislative Update: Immigrants” published during the 2026 state legislative session, provided important information on legislation affecting immigrants for League members as well as legislators.