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July, 2020 Vol 24 #11

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Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.

Letter from the President

Dear LWV-AA Members,

We have so much work to do this year to fulfill our mission to empower voters and defend democracy. The fight against systemic racism is undoubtedly a major component of that mission. In the coming 2020-2021 year, we will continue to address the ways in which systemic racism permeates in areas such as the increased closings of polling places that have subsequently limited access, voter ID laws, and complicated gerrymandering, to name a brief few.

We fully support the statement released by LWVUS. If you have not had the opportunity to read it, you can find it here:

LWVUS Responds to Police Killing of George Floyd

At the LWV-AA, we are committed to continuing our antiracism work and remaining agile in identifying new opportunities to expand that work. Our past programs consisted of Civil Rights Historical Education Sessions, with an emphasis placed on the History of Exclusion in Women's Suffrage. We have, and will continue to offer, book discussions that center education on Race Relations, White Privilege, and Antiracism. We are also expanding these discussions to include podcast listening and video clip watching sessions, as well as article discussions.

As of last Spring, the LWV-AA Equity & Inclusion Committee launched an intensive program, called the Accountability Partner Program. The aim of the Accountability Partner Program is to create a community of partners who will help keep those beginning to do the work of learning about Equity & Inclusion accountable. They will help their partners apply that learning practically in our work at the LWV-AA without having to burden those within marginalized communities to repeat the emotional labor that they have already provided to our society through multiple platforms and outlets.

Our major 2020-2021 Equity & Inclusion goals are to re-evaluate the LWV-AA Diversity Policy to be stronger and to reflect our dedication to the work of Equity & Inclusion, and to build a reflective E&I Liaison Committee, consisting of liaison partners from our greater Austin community. We also believe that in order to continue to reach for true parity in our community voter empowerment efforts, the LWV-AA must be in partnership with the many community organizations that serve the Austin Area. The path to an honest, fair, and encompassing electorate lies in the hands of all of our collective community, and as such, we stand committed to our community organization siblings to bring that equity for all. We have been providing our support to these efforts in the past year in our involvement with the Census Action Team and will continue to do so in our own Community Engagement Alliance initiative within the LWV-AA and through continued multi-partner collaboration borne out of the City of Austin Census efforts.

Lastly, we would like to unequivocally state,

Black Lives Matter.

In League,

Moriah Powers (she/her) President, LWV-AA

María Milner (she/they) VP Community Relations, Equity, and Inclusion, LWV-AA

Primary Runoff and Special Election Reminders

The 2020 Primary Runoff and Special Election for Senate District 14 (Kirk Watson's seat) is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14.

Last day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (received, not postmarked): Thursday, July 2 Early Voting: now through Friday, July 10, except July 3 & 4 when polls are closed. Primary Runoff and Special Election Day: Tuesday, July 14 Our nonpartisan Voters Guide is available online only at LWVAustin.org/voter-guide and VOTE411.org. You can print a personalized ballot with your election selections to bring to the voting booth with you.

Note for Primary Runoff on July 14th: Texas allows you to vote in a primary election without being registered to a particular political party, but you can only vote in one party's election. For the Primary Runoff election on July 14th, you must vote in the same party primary as you did in the Primary election on March 3rd.

Note for Special Election on July 14th: You can vote for whichever candidate you want to represent you regardless of political party.

Note for all elections: Please see the Travis County and Williamson County websites for exact times and locations.

Other important election information can be found at https://lwvaustin.org/voting- information/.

Register to Vote License Plates

Thanks to Rep. Gina Hinojosa and a bipartisan vote in the last session, Texas drivers can now urge eligible citizens to register and vote - from the back of their vehicles. Register to Vote plates cost $30 with $22 going to the Texas Secretary of State for Project V.O.T.E. to promote student education on voter registration and voting. You can order your plates from the TxDMV specialty license site HERE!

Celebrating Democracy Gala Update

Due to the risks posed by Covid-19 to people in large gatherings, the in-person 2020 Celebrating Democracy Gala is canceled. An email to ticket-holders will follow shortly explaining the next steps.

For the first time in our history, we will be holding an online fundraising event this Fall. The date, time, and platform will be announced soon by email and social media.

We thank you for your support and patience as we work to finalize the plan for the Fall fundraising event. Meanwhile, we would like to thank the sponsors of the 2020 Celebrating Democracy Gala and we invite everyone to support these businesses: https://lwvaustin.org/cdd2020sponsors

LWVUS Convention Highlights

On Friday, our League delegates elected Dr. Deborah Ann Turner as the 20th board president of the League of Women Voters of the for our 2020-2022 biennium. In her remarks from Sunday, which can be found here, she laid out her vision for the League during the next biennium: making VOTE411 a household name, advancing our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work, and embracing intergenerational relationships.

LWVUS CEO, Virginia Kase, addressed the convention with a frank and passionate talk about what it means to be nonpartisan in hyper-partisan times. Her remarks are well worth watching and can be found here.

"When democracy is attacked, we can't stay neutral. We must stand in our positions and advocate for what is right and just - we must stand in defense of the constitution."

Thursday evening was a moderated voting rights panel featuring voting rights experts. The conversation included D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Valerie Jarrett of When We All Vote, Allison Riggs of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (and newly elected board member of LWVUS!), and Alejandra Castillo of YWCA USA.

CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell delivered an inspirational and celebratory keynote video. She spoke to the intersection of activism and journalism, and the need for more Black and Brown women leading the work. You can watch Norah O'Donnell's full speech here on the LWVUS Youtube page.

The Vote Austin PBS will air American Experience's The Vote, a riveting two-part documentary commemorating the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, on July 6 & 7 at 8:00 pm.

Ginger Ross Gabrielle Avena Audrey Balsdon

Bessie Butler-Evans Katherine Charin Xaviera Chambers

Faith Cichon Gwen Cichon Victoria Collins-Becker

Karyn Couvillion Bettie Forman Candida Garrison

Diane Grodek Sam Heimbach Olivia Hillmer

Aimee Jost Kim Kahn Keely Locke

Kelly & Nicole Maines Brandi McDonald Samantha McNeal

Amber Meinzer Lora Menter Aimee & Alen Parkerson

Krystal Parsons Jodi Ray Courtney Roach

Theresa Rutz Carol Sander Allegra Smith

Laura & Bernie South Patricia Steinwedell Erin Stenzel

Janet Swisher Susan Tabbee Jamie Thompson

Katie Witman Alice (Mingfei) Yi

Thank you to all Sustaining and Renewing Members!

As a member of the Austin League, you are also a member of the national and state leagues. See the links below for additional information.

www.lwvaustin.org www.lwvtexas.org www.lwv.org The League of Women Voters Austin Area thanks its generous 2020 Celebrating Democracy sponsors!

The League also thanks the following individuals:

Joyce LeBombard & Benny Souder Mari Robinson & Greg Ritzen Heidi Schoenberger-Cobert & Family Erik Antener at Capitol Wealth Strategies Deborah Voss Sorrento's Coffee Drive-Thru Gwen Santiago Ranveig Borland First Texas Honda

The League shall not support or oppose any political party or candidates. It may take action on governmental measures and policies in the public interest after significant study and consensus is reached.

League of Women Voters Austin Area 3908 Avenue B, Austin TX 78751 (512) 451-6710 [email protected]

League of Women Voters Austin Area, 3908 Avenue B, Austin, TX 78751

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