LWV volunteers reach every corner of the metropolitan St. Louis area to meet our mission of educating voters and defending democracy. The Voter Services team has grown and organized to best meet the needs of community partners and our own goals for ensuring that qualified individuals are registered to vote, knowledgeable about elections and ballot issues, ready with a voting plan, and accommodated for any special services they may need to be able to participate in our democracy.
Voter Registration
Naturalization
The backbone of our voter registration efforts is our work with the US District Court registering new citizens immediately after their Naturalization ceremonies. Most ceremonies are held in downtown St. Louis at the Thomas Eagleton Federal Courthouse. Occasionally ceremonies are held at community sites like the St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis History Museum or at Busch Stadium.
Our LWV volunteers arrive, set up information tables, and greet each new citizen as he or she exits the courtroom upon taking the Oath of Citizenship. Ceremonies are held at least once a week, and more than 80% of the new citizens avail themselves of this service. The remainder are given a packet of information and instructions on registering online or by mail. Voter registration at Naturalization ceremonies is among the most rewarding volunteer experiences possible. Judges tell us these ceremonies are happy for all involved as they are the only non-adversarial events inside courtrooms.
County High Schools
Just a few years ago a new LWV member offered to organize voter registration drives in county high schools. A teacher herself, she was familiar with the best way to communicate with school administrations, and she developed a system for our teams of volunteers to go to high schools at the school’s time of choosing in fall and spring to register eligible students age 17 ½ and older. Signage, flyers, laptop stickers and personal interaction aim to increase student awareness and commitment to using the power of the vote.
North County High Schools
Our region’s geographic differences resulted in a separate team targeting North County High Schools. Using the same contact and scheduling process to conduct voter registration events in fall and spring, this group adds, where possible, classroom interactions with tailored messages on the power of voting and the need for participation.
St. Louis City High Schools
A third team concentrates on schools in St. Louis City. This school system has its own set of security measures and communications system so the team of volunteers has a slightly different training and expectations requirements. The LWV team conducts registration drives at public and private high schools in the fall and spring.
St. Charles High Schools
St. Charles has a robust student voter registration program at one of their schools. Voter Registration and Voter Education are part of the graduation preparation and each eligible student is registered online as part of the planning day activities.
Community Colleges and Trade Schools
This LWV team schedules voter registration drives at area community colleges in the fall and spring. They are reaching out to trade schools to conduct drives on their campuses. The team also assists with voter registration drives held at various four-year universities in the area.
Fairs and Festivals
Event organizers can ask for LWV volunteers to conduct voter registrations by filling out a request form on our website. If appropriate and if scheduling allows, volunteer teams are dispersed to register voters, distribute voter information, and answer questions about voting in upcoming elections.
Every year we staff tables at Juneteenth celebrations, art fairs and music festivals, community parades, street fairs and picnics, employee gatherings, and ethnic celebrations. We collaborate with other community organizations like YMCA or YWCA to provide voter registration in conjunction with their planned events or meetings. Wherever a nonpartisan crowd gathers, we are willing to consider voter registration!
League members must be trained to register voters. After watching our voter registration training video, which is found at the bottom of this page, our voter registration training captain will enter volunteer names into the appropriate contact list. To become a registrar, contact VoterRegistration [at] lwvstl.org
Candidate and Issues Forums
Sponsors of candidate or issues forums can go online and ask LWV to moderate or facilitate. Usually in the planning stage, LWV volunteers send a list of rules and requirements for involvement, with such things as a guarantee of nonpartisanship and fair and equitable time and consideration for opposing candidates or issues. Publicity for the forums is the responsibility of the sponsor, but the LWV announces events via our member email system and on our public calendar. League members serve as moderators and timers and collect questions for the candidates or panel in advance of the event and during the event.
Members wanting to volunteer at a forum may contact Forums [at] lwvstl.org
Voters Guide and Vote411
St. Louis area residents may not realize that the printed Voters Guide which is distributed in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and made available at libraries and public locations before every major election is completely written, edited, proofread, and distributed by LWV volunteers in collaboration with the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The information in the Voters Guide is also available online at Vote411.org.
This online portal is part of LWVUS and allows anyone to enter their address and see a complete ballot for their location. Vote411 also has links to check voter registrations or register online.
The work for this committee begins about two months before an election. The boards of election for the metropolitan region provide a list of every candidate who has filed, with the basic contact information that their filing required. One volunteer team writes or emails every candidate with set questions about background and basic positions. This team has to follow up with some candidates, often repeatedly.
Another team follows the Secretary of State and boards of election closely to gather any petition ballot language and edit it to properly explain the ballot language in a nonpartisan way. Once the information is entered, every entry is proofread and edited before it is uploaded to the Post Dispatch and Vote411. The final group of volunteers bundles and labels thousands of print copies of the Voters Guide and recruits volunteers to deliver them to libraries, community centers, businesses and organizations who have requested copies for their clientele.
To volunteer, members should contact VotersGuide [at] lwvstl.org
GOTV
In recent elections the Get Out the Vote Committee has concentrated efforts to build a toolkit which is available online to any person or organization that wants to spread the word about upcoming elections and the importance of voting. Volunteers create the content which is meant to be used in social media, with artwork specifically designed for Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Copies of flyers, posters and brochures also are available.
At each voter registration event, citizens are asked to provide a cell phone number to voluntarily receive three text messages before each election. One message encourages participants to use Vote411 to become familiar with their ballot. The second and third are reminders to vote early or to vote on election day. GOTV volunteers manage the cell phone numbers and send the texts.
GOTV bundles thousands and thousands of post cards to voters and volunteers hand write messages to encourage voting. Each election the committee studies voter turnout and chooses the geographic area which they hope to influence.
The committee also designed bus shelter ads and identified the exact location where they hope to encourage voter participation and worked to design the message, artwork, and content.
To volunteer, members may contact GOTV [at] lwvstl.org
Voter Access
Our Voter Access committee works to make sure that every qualified citizen is able to vote regardless of any disability. A statewide zoom meeting provided a Voting Basics seminar which highlighted voting accommodations for those who face barriers to voting. The chair of the committee audited every Board of Elections website to bring each jurisdiction into compliance with requirements.
Voting for Recently Incarcerated
LWV distributes information at public facing events to inform the public and those impacted that once the conditions of parole are met and a formerly incarcerated felon is “off papers,” they may register to vote. We suggest that any former felon with questions register at his or her election board.
To volunteer, members may contact VoterAccess [at] lwvstl.org
Youth Civic Education
Members are collaborating with community partners to develop student-centric and student-run voter education and voter involvement with area high school students. A student-led program at Lindenwood University is working in conjunction with this team to bring the power of voting to young voters—by young voters.
LWV has a robust group of student members. A contingent from Washington University, WashU Votes, partners with LWV as student members at Naturalization ceremonies and community events. A speakers bureau presentation on GOTV with an organization of Asian scholars brought high school students as members who immediately volunteered at community events. LWV is fortunate to have student interns throughout the year. We encourage students who wish to shape their own futures to join!
