League of Women Voters ^®
of Alachua County

LWVAC is proud to have several Life Members—those who have been League members for 50 consecutive years! We’ve set out to interview them. Here we talk with Betty Jacobson. This interview was first published in the January 2019 LWVAC Voter.

The ability to vote for our lawmakers is the cornerstone of our Democracy. We are now seeing Florida, and other states, pass laws eroding the progress we have made in increasing the ability of all citizens to vote. The Florida constitution clearly protects minority rights. The League of Women Voters of Florida has been testifying before the Senate and House redistricting committees to urge them to analyze their proposed maps to ensure minority rights. The League is insisting the committees conduct an analysis of the entire state using recent census data, which is important because Florida had more minority residents in 2020 than it did in 2010.

The City of Gainesville is hosting a runoff election to fill the Gainesville City Commission’s At-Large Seat B. A recording is now available of the runoff candidates' responses from the LWVAC Virtual Candidate Forum held in October. The runoff election is scheduled for January 25. This is a non-partisan election and all registered voters who live within the city of Gainesville limits may vote in this election.

LWVAC is proud to have several Life Members—those who have been League members for 50 consecutive years! We’ve set out to interview them. Here we talk with Gert Desjardin, who has been with the League for more than 60 years.