Active participation in government works
I’m a late bloomer to the world of political engagement. I’ve always voted and I’m not short on personal opinions, but only a few years ago did I decide to stop airing political grievances on Facebook and do something positive and productive. This decision in turn brought me to the League of Women Voters of Houston, and that is when I truly started to understand the power and purpose of informed and active participation in government.
Power and purpose were on full display last Friday, in fact, when we rejoiced over a reversed position by the United States Postal Service, allowing us to place voter registration forms in the lobbies of Harris County post offices. This didn’t happen on its own, mind you; the problem of not being able to place boxes filled with forms in public view at post offices — something that had not been an issue in previous years — was doggedly pursued by our voter services team and supported by Mayor Sylvester Turner and U.S. Reps. Sylvia Garcia and Al Green. The positive outcome advanced the mission of our 100-year-old nonpartisan organization: to empower voters and defend democracy.
We empower voters by doing all we can to inform the electorate and make voting easy and accessible for U.S. citizens. For example, our volunteer deputy voter registrars provided on-the-spot voter registration service at all Houstonarea naturalization ceremonies last year, welcoming 23,889 new Americans to the electorate within minutes of their citizenship oath. This number represents an 85 percent rate of response among those newly eligible. Our volunteers also register eligible voters at locations like schools, colleges, grocery stores and Houston events. It’s not unusual to see them setting up tables, voter registration forms and other useful materials at the crack of dawn and staying until sundown, all for the sake of democracy.
Many people are familiar with our nonpartisan Voters Guide, which a team starts compiling months prior to an election and provide in print, electronic and interactive formats. Forty-four thousand print copies of the Voters Guide were distributed at no cost to the general public in November and March via libraries, schools, universities, neighborhood centers and civic organizations. We’re the only League in the nation that provided this critical information in four languages last year — English, Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese. The Voters Guide for the November 2020 election will be available at Houston-area libraries and at lwvhouston.org next week. League members will receive copies mailed to their homes by Oct. 6. On top of this, the League’s interactive vote411.org option provides voters with impartial and comprehensive information in a digital format.
Our work doesn’t stop there when it comes to helping voters make informed decisions at the polls. We host nonpartisan candidate forums, produce a program called Conversations With the Candidates and conduct phone banks on election days, during which volunteers answer voter questions in English and Spanish. We took more than 800 calls in November and 700 for the March primaries. Finally, we offer a year of civic training and volunteer opportunities to selected leaders of all ages through a program called Rising Stars (we’re accepting applications for 2020-21 through Oct. 7 at lwvhouston.org/risingstars). All of this is led by dedicated volunteers.
As for the second part of our mission, the League defends democracy by studying and coming to consensus on specific issues, taking a position on those issues and then advocating for them. There are more than 50 positions posted to the League’s U.S. website, but our areas of focus in Houston include the 2020 census, transparent and accountable redistricting and studies pertaining to ranked choice voting. Then there are situations that pop up, such as the post office issue. You can assume we will challenge any efforts and tactics that threaten our democracy and limit the ability of voters to exercise their right to vote.
All of this brings me back to Friday night. Our happiness regarding the USPS was short lived with the heartbreaking news of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing, yet we were reminded of the purpose of our work and the significance of a democracy worth fighting for.
Remember, voting is the right of U.S. citizens — be sure to exercise your own power and purpose at the polls. See you there.