Session Highlights: Working with Legislators, the League’s “Moonshot” goal — Abolish the Electoral College — and thoughts from a State Delegate
Navigating Challenging Legislative Environments
The topic of the workshop: “Hyper-partisanship in our political system challenges the way Leagues do their work and forces us to adapt to new challenges to protect voters and further League priorities.”
This session aimed to equip advocates with effective strategies for navigating challenging political environments following the 2024 election. They described some advocacy techniques to address obstacles we may face throughout the legislative process including testimony writing tips, emphasizing the importance of compelling narratives, and evidence-based arguments. We heard from LWV members from Ohio, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Massachusetts along with a LWVUS member. In some of these states, members worked with quite hostile legislative environments and gave solid advice on how to be seen as allies and not adversaries.
Key Take-aways:
Challenge: “How can you make the legislative process better when the legislators wait until the last minute to introduce big bills?” We need to focus on the separate bills as early as possible and to be sure that specific language (i.e. definitions ) are embedded into this legislature before it moves out of committee.
Challenge: “How to address bills which we don’t agree with yet we know are going to pass?” Look for ways to make the bills a bit better – suggest wording that might make it less restrictive, work with other legislators to promote amendments.
Challenge: “How to find unexpected allies in the legislature?” Become an expert in some areas and the legislatures will come to you to ask questions; being present and aware in following legislation is a good way to keep up advocacy work.
Challenge: “How do leagues set legislative priorities?” As the following questions:
- Is it Mission critical? – is it critical to our League? Focus on less rather than more.
- Is it moving? – Is the party in power supporting it?
- Can we make an impact? Can we help it get it passed/stopped/amended?
- Could our actions harm other priorities? (Don’t necessarily take a stance if we want to garner information about things – sometimes working on one thing means you have to give up on something else)
Important to know:
Know the difference between advocacy and lobbying. As a 501c3 organization, we can advocate, but NOT lobby. Advocacy encompasses pleading for or against causes, as well as supporting or recommending positions.
References:
https://www.lwv.org/league-management/advocacy/defining-advocacy-vs-lobbying
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-07-41.pdf
https://afj.org/resource/practical-guidance-alaska-nonprofit-voter-assistance/
Best Practices:
Submit written testimony early. Watch for biased language and submit alternative wordings. Map members to each legislator to allow for greater advocacy and reach.
Turn up for One Person, One Vote
(listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JS_5nuf2JRs?si=o4l959ECJgrnwxW- )
AND
Launching the Moonshot: Electing the President by Popular Vote
The summary of the workshop: “Abolishing the Electoral College has been a LWV policy since 1970 when it almost passed Congress. Today, our democracy is threatened because less than 50,000 or .03% of voters in a handful of states will make the decision rather than the 160,000,000 expected to vote in this fall’s election. Unfortunately, abolishing the Electoral College has little chance of passage right now. However, National Popular Vote (NPV) is close to being activated, with 16 States and DC having passed it for 205 Electoral Votes; only another 65 EV are needed. Now is the time for the League to launch its Moonshot and host a Workshop where the approaches for both abolishing the Electoral College and National Popular Vote will be discussed.”
Key Take-aways:
Challenge: “Doesn’t a national popular vote adversely affect small states, and rural areas?” No, this is not a rural vs. urban issue. Voters are not a cohesive group, look at Texas or California – there are so many small towns which far outweigh the larger cities. Right now, 41 states with 80% of the population will be ignored in the national race. Another point: If you support a ‘red’ candidate in a ‘blue’ state or a ‘blue’ candidate in a ‘red’ state, your voice is lost. Thus if a candidate wins in Texas with a 1% margin, all electoral votes go to the winner that means 49% of the voters in Texas get no representation in the vote.
Challenge: “Americans don’t elect a president, they elect “electors.” Do you know who your electors are? Do we have confidence that they will follow the will of the voters in a particular state? Electors are generally party officials or elected officials and have pledged to support a particular party. The number of electors is determined by the size of its congressional delegates (with Washington DC getting 3). (Note: this unfairly penalizes large states restricted by the 435 representatives cap in the House.) If there is no majority, the House votes on the President and the Senate on the Vice President,.
Challenge: “Why did the US establish the Electoral College anyway?” The system is complex and can’t easily be modified, the two party system is entrenched and focuses the power in the hands of political parties that control the states, and finally, the legacy of slavery which ensured that the southern states could count slaves and now disenfranchised minorities (thru gerrymandering and other voter suppression mechanisms) while controlling the outcome of the elections.
Challenge: “Why bother, it isn’t going to pass any time soon anyway.” Focus first on the National Popular Vote compact.
Next Steps:
Focus on the National Popular Vote compact. It was brought up in the House last session, but gained no traction. LWV-AK should focus on that as a priority in the next session.
Focus on education of our voters – let them know and understand the history of the Electoral College.
Important to know:
During the session, there was a general discussion about how to “get out the vote.” Apathy in voters is a key problem – and it was discussed that apathy is generally found in people who have been victimized one way or another and so are unable to overcome their animosity towards the government for acting in a particular way. We need to be able to separate particular issues from the greater whole, and show how empowering voters gives them a voice to change.
Walking away from voting totally abdicates control to others. You can withhold money from sellers by not buying a product and that sends a message to them; but you can’t walk away from voting since that makes the candidates stronger.
Also, there is never a perfect candidate; you are just looking for a candidate who will listen and who agrees to represent all of the voters, not just those in their party.
Final thoughts
For me, the best part of the main convention was something that wasn’t originally on the agenda, but was added by amendment – and that was the final section on “Directions to the Board.” A motion to add it to the convention was overwhelmingly approved by the membership. It wasn’t clear to me why they didn’t have this on the agenda to begin with since most leagues do this. Some people spoke to the fact that the convention didn’t discuss – at all – the ChapterSpot implementation and the new dues structures, etc. This included comments supporting the elimination of dues for people under 25 years of age. Edi Wallace-Moyer, one of the Anchorage Youth members spoke eloquently about the need to support younger members as did a number of other youth. Some mentioned the need for more inclusion, including more men. Some mentioned ways to better improve the convention in years to come. All were encouraged to submit comments to the board during the survey as well.
The new board was approved. It will be hard to replace Dr. Turner, as she was a amazing, one of a kind person. The new President, Dianna Wynn, from North Carolina , spoke well and the new CEO, Celina Stewart, who was the League’s chief counsel, is so well qualified and well spoken that she should be a great asset to the organization in the future. And, many of you know Leah Edwards, the new League Treasurer, who was Alaska’s liaison for some time,
Submitted by Judith Mitchell
Alaska State Board
Read more about the 2024 LWVUS Convention:
Highlights from the LWV Convention