LWVMCVA

League of Women Voters
of
Montgomery County, Virginia

About the League of Women Voters

• The League of Women Voters in General - History & Function
• The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, Virginia

The League of Women Voters In General:

Founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt, the League of Women Voters has been an active American political organization. It was during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, nearly six months before women were given the right to vote in the 19th Amendment, that the League of Women Voters was born. The organization was initially designed to help those women who would be acquiring the right to vote to understand and exercise that right.

In 1973, the League of Women Voters modified its charter to include men. Since that time, the men who have joined the League of Women Voters have been as active and enthusiastic as the female members. Everyone is encouraged to join the League of Women Voters, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, education level, or age because we are a group designed to serve ALL citizens in the quest for improving our government, being active participants in government, and in educating the general public upon those issues relating to government, particularly on the rights and responsibilities of voting.

The League of Women Voters maintains a nonpartisan core philosophy that precludes the endorsement or opposition of specific political candidates or parties at any level of government. Political Issues, however, are the focus of the League of Women Voters. Members work together to identify and study issues relevant in our Country today, at all levels of government. Members at the different levels of the League (National, State, and Local) meet to form a consensus on a position concerning the issue, then works diligently to increase their own knowledge and share that with the overall population. Additionally, members are involved in advocacy actions that are designed to influence public policy and lobby those political bodies who have the power to establish that policy.

In order to accomplish these goals, each League of Women Voters group has two primary subgroups: 1) Action and Advocacy 2) Voter Service and Citizen Education. League members are encouraged to participate in either one or both of these depending upon their area of interest. Action and Advocacy tasks include studying issues, developing consensus positions, and then lobbying for changes in law and public policy in a non-partisan manner. The Voter Service and Citizen Education focus deals with such issues as Voter Registration, Voter Rights, providing non-partisan information about candidates in written form (Voter Guides), public meetings (Forums and Debates), and through audio/video recordings.

Being involved with a local League of Women Voters group provides the opportunity to be active in National, State, and Local elections and policy-making. For instance, recent activities have included lobbying Congress in favor of the bi-partisan Security and Freedom Ensured Act which was designed to reduce the negative impact upon individual liberties that were derived from the Patriot Act. Positions taken concerning the environment have sought to encourage clean air and water. And, most recently, the League has worked to support comprehensive health-care reform.

Each of these National level issues has a counterpart at State and Local levels. Furthermore, each State and each Local jurisdiction has issues that are specific to that area. When the local League groups work in concert at the State level, they strive to identify those issues which have an affect on the state as a whole. Local issues provide an opportunity for League members to be directly involved in the policy-making that affects them 'where they live'. Currently, there are Leagues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Hong Kong.

More on the history of the League of Women Voters can be found at the "About Us" pages of the League of Women Voters of the United States and the League of Women Voters of Virginia.

The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, VA:

(from handbook)

The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County was organized in 1971. Since then, it has been actively involved in educating and registering voters and in studying issues of local governmental importance. The first study it undertook, in January 1974, illustrates the significant role this League has played. That study compared Blacksburg's 1952 Charter with those of other Virginia municipalities and with the Model City Charter of the National Civic League. The study group recommended a new Charter for the Town of Blacksburg and the membership voted consensus on this September 1974. The Town formed a Charter Commission in August 1974 that included two League members and this Commission presented its report and recommended a new Charter for the Town in November 1974. Blacksburg Town Council approved this new Charter that December.

More recent activities have included supporting a citizen referendum within the Town of Christiansburg to move their election date from May to November. Record high turn-out of voters resulted in the passage of the referendum by approximately 80% of voters. A study on Felon Rights in Virginia led to a Panel Discussion that is available online. The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County was one of eleven national recipients of grants to study the Freedom of Information Act, the product of that study, the"Citizen Initiative for Transparency in Virginia", is available online. All of these and more can be found here on the web site of the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, VA.