From our League of Women Voters of Delaware Co-Presidents...
Dear Delaware League Members,
Our League leadership recently participated in a conference call organized by the LWVUS and involving all state Leaders. The prime objective of this call was to introduce the League’s newly focused campaign to address the national problem of gerrymandering. We are excited to inform you that the LWVUS will be leading a 50-state redistricting campaign focused on creating fair political maps nationwide.
The decision by the Supreme Court this past spring not to tackle this issue requires us to redouble our focus on our redistricting work at the state level. Because redistricting has long been a priority issue of the League, and a signature part of our Campaign for Making Democracy Work, we cannot sit back and wait for the court to change.
The national LWVUS board authorized half a million dollars to launch this campaign, and every state League will receive some of that funding through grants. This work will look different in each state. The campaign was unveiled to all members on a tele town hall on September 4th with an email invitation for every state to register. We are pleased to report that Sandy Spence, chair of our Advocacy Corps has volunteered to join LWV leaders from across the nation to meet in a two day conference in Washington, DC in mid-October. Each state has been invited to have only one delegate. However, in view of his professional expertise, we have petitioned to also have Jack Young, Portfolio Chair for Government on the Advocacy Corps, serve. Among his extensive experiences as an attorney, Jack also teaches at the William & Mary Law School as an Adjunct Professor in international and comparative election law.
This “People Powered Fair Maps Campaign" is going to be the major focus of the LWVUS organization over the next several years, and Carol and I trust that you share our excitement that Delaware will be a part of it.
With best regards,
Carol Jones and Sue Claire Harper
Co-presidents, League of Women Voters of Delaware
