Happy New Year! And not only New Year, but New Decade! And Happy 100th Anniversary! We have much to look forward to this year, but first let me say thank you to all of you who, in so many different ways in 2019, helped the League to continue its work to defend democracy. There are many ways coming up for you to continue your engagement, or to become active in the League and we look forward to working with all of you.

This month we will start our discussions on alternative voting methods, following a rigorous study. Come and join the conversation Jan. 14, 6-8 p.m. at the Route 9 Library and Innovation Center, and/or Sat. Jan 25th 10-12 a.m. at the Bear Library. This study committee looked at several different voting methods and have information to generate discussion and perhaps recommendations for Delaware.

We will also have our first Hot Topic of the decade on Jan. 27 by Adam Balick from
Judge Strine’s office, talking on the Criminal Code and Legislation being presented. You will see information elsewhere about this, but if you can’t make it, be sure to check out the video recording on our website after the meeting.

We have several things planned this year for the League’s 100th Birthday in Feb., and the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment in Aug. We will have our birthday party on Sun. Feb. 16th at a wine tasting party at Deerfield Wine and Spirits from 2-5 p.m. Come out and celebrate with birthday cake and toasting! We are engaging students in all the high schools to learn about suffrage, and the responsibility to vote, and will host a presentation of their projects in April. In June, we are hosting an all-women’s orchestra concert at Ingleside Apartments. We are planning film presentations in the fall in various libraries and are hoping to partner with the YWCA and Delta Sigma Theta for a showing of “Dignity and Defiance: A Portrait of Mary Church Terrell” which should generate good discussion.

At the state level, mark your calendars and make a reservation for a bus trip the first weekend in May to Seneca Falls, where it all began for the League. During the year, official markers of historic suffrage events will be placed in each county and in Wilmington, and a parade will be held on Sept 26 in Dover with the dedication of a Suffrage Monument on the grounds of Legislative Hall.

Notwithstanding those two celebrations, we also have an election this year, and Kim Wells and her committee have been busy updating the Vote 411 system and will be showing films at various libraries with a Vote 411 website demonstration this spring and early fall. We will also be working with our new election commissioner on how to inform people regarding our new voting machines.

And we also have a census this year! We have been working with DANA on developing ways to engage hard to reach communities, and how to encourage everyone to participate. This will take a lot of education in this era of mistrust and fear, so we will need lots of you to help with this effort.

Related to the census, we have a new initiative from LWVUS, “People Powered Fair Maps” dealing with redistricting. Sandy Spence has offered to chair this committee and we hope many of you will contact her to help with this work to be sure the census is done well, to respond to federal legislation around redistricting and the Voting Rights Act, and to engage the public in education and awareness.

And, so we continue the work of the past 100 years!
Get active! Join the journey!

-- Marj Johnson