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. 

Monthly media Literacy Tip
We all are susceptible to persuasion. Persuasion can be based on reliable or faulty information. 

Faulty information at the heart of persuasion can spread quickly, like a virus, reaching many individuals and posing a threat to the truth, institutions, and democracies. 

To recognize faulty information—and thus resist its manipulation–a person needs to be familiar with some common types. They often are found in online posts, everyday conversations and elsewhere. 

Fallacies are a type of faulty reasoning or misleading or unsound arguments. A fallacy may sound compelling, but it can lead to unsupported conclusions and misguided actions. First identified by the Greeks, fallacies exist in many forms. 

“Fearmongering” is one common fallacy. It uses language or images that evoke strong emotions, including intense sympathy, fear or outrage. For example: “What you’re about to see will horrify you” and “The judge issued a disgusting ruling today.”  

Emotional language and fearmongering statements both prepare you to feel strong emotions, increasing chances you will. And, when you feel strong emotions, you are more likely to act without examining the quality of the information.   

Learning about fallacies, like fearmongering, can help you put the brakes on being a spreader of faulty reasoning and faulty information. 

Don't Miss the Final Media & News Literacy Workshop
Artificial intelligence is everywhere—even places that might surprise you. Do you want to get smarter about AI? The workshop is on Feb. 24 from 6:30-8 pm via Zoom. Register here.

“Get to Know Artificial Intelligence” is the last of four online, interactive workshops in the Media & News Literacy series presented by the LWVWA Local News and Democracy Advocacy and Education Committee. 

Register now and learn the following: 

 Explore the recordings and presentations from the first three workshops HERE.  

The Media & News Literacy workshops are part of the state League’s “Democracy Power-Up!” series to help members respond to the constitutional crisis and defend democracy. 

The LWVWA members responsible for the Media Literacy and News Education Project share a media literacy tip for publication in the monthly Project for Civic Health newsletter. The project, established to foster greater civic health and dialogue, is housed in the office of Lt. Gov. Denny Heck and involves the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, the University of Washington Evans School, and The William D. Ruckelshaus Center. The League's most recent tip is above.

Big steps are continuing to be made toward national adoption of the LWVWA’s “Protecting the Rights of Immigrants” position. 

Tonight, Feb. 19, is a nationwide webinar featuring study co-chairs Susan F. Martin and Lydia Zepeda explaining the provisions of the position and the process for securing adoption by way of the process known as national concurrence.  

Register here for tonight’s webinar. It takes place on Zoom at 4 pm. 

Additionally, the LWVWA has launched a website further explaining the study, the position adopted by Washington members, and the process for arriving at national adoption by concurrence. The site, titled “Make Protecting Immigrants Part of the League’s National Advocacy Platform—Support Concurrence,” can be readily accessed from the LWVWA home page. 

The state site features a multi-faceted look that details how to get the study, steps for requesting a speaker, a quick look at the study, the position itself, and resources. 

It also features two five-minute videos titled “Path to Adoption: Concurrence Blueprint for Belonging” and “What Systemic Challenges Do Immigrants Face in WA?” The videos were produced by study committee member Janet Lenart, who used readily accessible artificial intelligence tools. 

Tonight’s webinar participants are expected to attend from across the country as members in all 50 states prepare for the LWVUS’  57^th biennial convention, June 25-28. The convention, titled “Women Unite & Rise,” will take place at the Hilton Columbus Downtown in Columbus, Ohio. 

by Cynthia Stewart, Advocacy Chair Emeritus, LWV of Washington

The thorniest issue this legislative session, which pervades all others, is the revenue shortfall relative to the funding required to sustain needed services.

But Washington may be a step closer to addressing that challenge after the Senate voted on Monday to approve SB 6346, the so-called “Millionaires’ Tax.” The legislation would establish a tax on incomes exceeding $1 million annually, affecting a very small percentage of the population. An estimated 99.9% of the population would not be affected.

At present, Washington state has the second most regressive tax structure in the US, and no way exists under the current system to raise adequate revenue.

The measure now is in the House for members’ action there.

The LWVWA has made SB 6346 a top priority because it affects all other proposals with any fiscal impact, and because it is consistent with the League position on taxes: Support action to obtain a balanced tax structure that is fair, adequate, flexible, and has a sound economic effect.

The state’s revenue deficit is estimated at $2.3 billion annually, beginning in 2026. This is a result of lower than previously estimated tax revenue combined with increased costs of doing business. If passed, SB 6346 would generate significant additional revenue, estimated between $1-3 billion per biennium.

Interest in this bill has been historic, with over 80,500 people signing in either pro or con for the Feb. 6 public hearing in the Ways & Means committee.

Thank you to the League members who took the time and made the effort to sign in in support of the bill. 

⚠️ Please take one more step and thank the legislators who voted in favor of SB 6346 HERE.

With special elections in February, we want to make everyone aware of United State Postal Service changes that could affect how your ballot is postmarked—and counted.

The League of Women Voters US provides this explanation of rule update the USPS made on Dec. 24: In simple terms, it clearly defines what, how, and when a postmark is applied or used. It does not make operational changes to the way that mail is processed.

The USPS's definition makes clear that a postmark does NOT indicate the date a piece of mail was sent (accepted by a postal worker, dropped in an official USPS mailbox, or received at a local post office). Instead, it indicates when a piece of mail was received by a USPS processing facility.

This does not change the way that mail-in ballots (or any other mail) are processed. Postmarks will continue to be applied in the same manner as they were previously applied. However, voters should know that a local post office may NOT be the processing facility that applies the postmark. In some cases, the mail may be sent to another facility. This means that a ballot mailed at a local post office might not be postmarked by 8 pm on election day, which is the requirement.

What should my League focus on?

Leagues will be instrumental in reminding voters about Washington state's mail-in ballot deadlines and processes. Check with your local Elections Office for additional details.

• What is the deadline to receive ballots in Washington state?
  According to the Secretary of State’s website: “Your ballot must either be postmarked no later than Election Day or returned to a ballot drop box by 8 pm on Election Day. If mailing your ballot within a week of Election Day, be mindful of mailbox collection times or use an official ballot drop box. A late postmark could disqualify your ballot.”
• Share the location of ballot drop boxes.

It’s important to help voters make a plan to return their ballot. If they plan to use the US Postal Service, encourage them to return their mail-in ballot no later than one week prior to the deadline. You can also share information about how to have their ballot manually postmarked if they are concerned about the timeline, help them locate drop boxes near them, or direct them to drop off their ballot at the office of their election official (if available).

You can read more on the LWV website here.