Non • par • ti • san / nänpardizәn /

Adjective: not biased or partisan, especially toward any particular political group.

Example: “The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan political organization, encouraging informed and active participation in government. The league neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate but works to influence public policy through education and advocacy.”

Words matter.

Our organization’s original nonpartisan stance was a way to ensure that all women would feel included and inclined to vote. Since then, it has been a hallmark of our work and the cornerstone of our reputation.  But a combination of factors including a global pandemic, lack of local news sources, and an overreliance on social media for information has led to a hyper-partisan political climate where the focus is more on “winning” than informing voters on the issues. Even something as fundamental to our representative democracy as expanding voting rights is now viewed as a partisan issue by some.  While these factors make our job more difficult, it is imperative that we stay above the fray of partisan politics. We must continue the critical work of combating misinformation by providing factual information to voters.

I want to thank all of our league members for working so hard to bring information and present the candidates to the voters during this past local election season. It was a difficult and sometimes, thankless job.   Due to the ongoing pandemic, there were many limitations placed on candidate debates and forums, normally one of best and easiest ways to showcase the candidates.  Virtual debates made taking live questions more difficult, requiring voters to submit questions ahead of time, reducing the number of questions that could be submitted live, and taking the spontaneity out of the process. Ditto for live debates with a limited audience or no audience at all, again, reducing the interactions between candidates and those who will elect them. Through voter guides and Vote411.org,  we were able to get unbiased information to voters.  We accomplished this project despite the added challenge of gathering information from each local Town Clerk rather than directly from the Secretary of the State’s office, as in a midterm or presidential election year.

The upcoming year will be pivotal for our charge of “empowering voters” as the Early Voting question will be on the ballot in the fall. We will need to educate Connecticut voters about how voting “YES” to amend our state constitution will finally permit the Connecticut General Assembly to craft legislation allowing Early Voting for future elections.

Many have also expressed a desire for the league to take the lead on educating voters in the area of Civics and how the political process works, something that needs to be as unbiased and nonpartisan as possible. I believe that we are well suited to accomplish these things and that we must not allow the chatter that is inevitable in a world of 24/7 information to keep us from our goal of “Defending Democracy and Empowering Voters”.  Although overused, this phrase remains incredibly relevant for the moment: Keep calm and carry on.

In League,

Laura Smits

President, League of Women Voters of Connecticut