League of Women Voters United States Convention – 2024
27- 30 June 2024
Washington DC
I am grateful for the opportunity to attend this convention as a Virtual Delegate for the League of Women Voters Juneau, Alaska.
The convention was basically divided in two major segments with some additions:
- Breakout Educational Sessions/Tutorials (about 40 of them)
- Plenary Sessions (three of them)
In addition, there were some additional In-Person and Virtual meetings. These included:
- Meeting with Lisa Murkowski’s office (staff – Teresa Wrobel) on 27 June for about 40 minutes to discuss the John Lewis Voting Right Advancement Act (JLVRAA. Lisa was an initial signer on the bill and continues to support with some suggested changes. The report from Teresa was that there was “minimal support on the bill”. Teresa indicated this was because the “civil rights groups” do not appear to be interested. (…?what?…). I found this problematic. I asked Teresa which groups. She did not know and suggested we would have to talk to Senator Dick Durbin (Illinois) about that. I was rather “underwhelmed” with that discussion. A brief “Ms Google” review revealed there is much more to explore with LWVUS, Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, NAACP, Black Lives Matter, National Urban League, Churches of many persuasions, National Coalition of Black Civil Participation (to name a few to start with). So – that was that… What next to do about this important issue?
- The Presidential Debate Watch Party was a ”piece of work” for many of us. I’ll watch again when I have the courage.
- Delegate Training on how to use the Virtual/In-Person voting system that was quite different from the Zoom and other session links.
Sessions I Attended
Electoral College (three separate sessions). These were quite informative and educational. Two of the three were excellent. The history was good. Two notable ways to change the Electoral College emphasized:
- Interstate Compact
- Constitutional Amendment
There has been a long history for Electoral College. Slaves considered “3/5-ths of a person”. The Interstate Compact is also called the “work-around” and is considered consistent with the National Popular Vote. Many voters do not know that they do not select the President. The “selectors” do that. No other democracy in the world uses the Electoral College for this purpose. With both the Interstate Pact and a Constitutional Amendment, we have the potential of a collective vote of the people. This is clearly worth following.
Vote for Vermont Update to the Privatization Position by Concurrence. This was a proposed position to assist with health care by labeling health care a “public good” and following up with action. The position was placed in the Privatization Position section of Impact on Issues rather than the Health Care Position section. While well intentioned, it did not appear easily or well understood by many. The motion to consider and place on the voting plenary agenda did pass with a simple majority and would go to a Plenary vote for final decision.
Adoption of LWV Greater Pittsburgh Gun Safety Position by Concurrence. This was very well presented and contained very good past history with current information. The position encouraged the gun violence issues to be labeled and dealt with in Public Health Policy. Considerable amount of meaningful statistics were provided. The National LWVUS did not recommend this position because of their interest in “Making Democracy Work” (??). The presentation was excellent. The motion to consider and place on the voting plenary did pass with simple majority and scheduled for final Plenary vote.
Ranked Choice Voting: Local – Presidential – League. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) and National Popular Vote (NPV) are compatible. In RCV, data suggest that women are more successful and win more elections. A key RCV important asset is the RCV Resource Election Center. RCV gets rid of “extremist voting”. A very good to excellent presentation.
Plenary Sessions (I attended all three)
These plenary sessions had multiple components:
- Nominating Committee selection for a vote later on for two new members
- Credentials Report
- Resolution Committee Proposals (eight in all – one was withdrawn)
- Final definitive votes on two Proposed Position Statements that had previously passed preliminary consideration for final vote (two)
- Directions to the Board for the future
The Resolution Committee Proposals with plenary voting decision included:
- District of Columbia Statehood – Passed
- Ethics in Government – Passed
- Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women from the United Nations Treaty (CEDAW) – Passed
- Immigration – Passed
- Secure Voting – Failed
- Libraries – Passed
- Reproductive Rights – assed
Proposed consideration of final vote to approve Position Statements:
- Vermont Update to the Privatization Position by Concurrence – did not pass with 2/3 vote and Failed
- LWV Greater Pittsburgh Gun Safety Position by Concurrence – did not pass with 2/3 vote and Failed
Directions to the Board for Future Consideration: I really like this part as it allowed many members to “have their say on their ideas”. This enabled members to state to the entire conventions additional thoughts and suggestions for the Board of Directors to consider. This was excellent in the significant number of speakers, subjects and issue’s covered and very civil pro- and con- opinions offered. Well worth listening to.
Final Comments
- We understood there were some 700 In-Person members in attendance and some 700 Virtual members on line.
- Teaching of how to vote and rules of order often got complicated along the way. The technology and LWVUS staff officers did a remarkable job with allowing open speech with all of the rules and complications. I thought the Parliamentarian needed an award for all of that! Some simply called it “bumps in the road”.
- If the LWV intends to assist with the John Lewis Voting Act, it seems that attention will need to be given to collaborating with other groups in this work. This is well worth doing.
- For those who watched the Presidential Debate, need I say more at this time?
- Delegate training for voting was actually quite good. Fortunately, I met with Judith Mitchell ahead of time and got a special tutorial in working two screens and the different platforms for the session, the voting and the rest of it. Many thanks to you, Judith!
- Dealing with the Electoral College issues across the US seems to be gaining momentum. I am a strong supporter of the Interstate Compact until such time that a miracle can happen for Constitutional Amendment. This will require immense collaboration.
- I was saddened that the Vermont Updater proposed position did not pass. I think it was confusing for many to understand. It is very apparent that we need to continue to work diligently for health care for all with dedicated attention to the “corporate fleecing of the lambs” and “extracting pounds of flesh” from citizens to be delivered to the corporate healthcare systems of so many dimensions.
- This presentation on Gun Safety was and is very somber. With collaboration, I believe there is a way to have a win-win on both sides of the divide. When will we learn?
- I believe Ranked Choice Voting is working in Alaska. Those programs are also gaining steam throughout the nation. No question about it – I believe this permits collective and fair choosing of candidates for election.
- The one resolution that did not pass was because there was quite a bit of discussion from elections administrators, election workers and techs who indicated the absence of sufficient firewalls, safeguards and technologies to support this resolution at this time. There was good and reasonable discussion on the other resolutions.
- I understand that all sessions and reports will be available for viewing in the near future. It simply was not possible to listen to or participate in all of this. I will be very pleased with the recordings that can be assessed. They are well worth it!
- If I learned anything, it was a re-affirmation that we will do more and better when we reach out to offer and accept from others collaboration with “like minds”.
Thanks again to the Juneau League for this opportunity. I had many fond memories of my time as Board Member on the National Board 2012-2014.
Written by: carolyn Brown, Juneau league member
Read more about the 2024 LWVUS Convention:
Highlights from the LWV Convention