President’s Message

Greetings,

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Like you, I’m looking forward to celebrating the December holidays with loved ones.

Although most of my family members have been fully vaccinated, we are lovingly recommending the unvaccinated to stay away. I’m sure many of you also have “vax-blended” families and are wrestling with decisions about gathering. Compared to last year, when there was little choice, it’s a good place to be. In 2020 we had to shelter in place and weather the cold in our backyard so my son could join us for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now we will gather inside. So things are looking good as long as we continue taking the recommended precautions.

I’m hoping 2022 will see us moving from virtual to in-person outreach to our voters. Two elections will entail a great deal of work, especially since everyone will have a new precinct map that determines what contests appear on the ballot. It may mean that new and unknown candidates will be competing in the redrawn districts and we will be voting with a different community than in the past. And it may mean that your “favored” candidate running for office does not appear on your ballot but on someone else’s.

I hope that you have been following the work being done in your city, the county, and the state to redraw the district lines. The various decision-making bodies have created new maps and will finalize the official districts around December 15. Go to your city website, the Los Angeles County Redistricting Commission, or the California Citizens Redistricting Commission to see your new districts and voting communities. If you don’t like what you see, say something—if there is still time. The districts we’re placed in determine whether our interests will be shared by other district residents or the person who is elected to office. Good luck with the power of your vote.

As I have said in the past, we are lucky to be in California, where voting has become more accessible for all. That is not true in many other states, and it is becoming even less true as states pass legislation to limit the opportunity to vote in the name of protecting against (virtually nonexistent) election fraud. Federal laws are needed to secure voting rights in all states for all communities, and that is why the League of Women Voters has urged us to take action to support the Freedom to Vote Act the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. It’s time to get into good trouble. The Voter Services Committee is looking for a few good activists to help design a voting rights campaign worthy of the name League of Women Voters! Our time in history is here. We must honor the legacy of our founding members and fight to secure voting rights for all.

Defending democracy is not a catchphrase—it’s a mission, and it’s our mission. Keep contacting your senators and representatives to urge them to fight for voting rights, even if you think they are already on your side! Your pressure supports their ability to apply needed pressure to congressional colleagues. Make this a habit that you repeat regularly and often. Get out there and mix it up, and encourage others to take action. Find partners to help sister Leagues in other states, write postcards to voters, walk with fellow activists, make a stink. Raise your voice and recognize what’s at stake here—our very democracy. Do it together, do it today, do it tomorrow. Do it every day until federal voting rights legislation passes.

All other rights flow from voting rights. Our ability to impact public policy is backed up by our ability to influence public officials through the vote. The decision in the Rittenhouse case is an example of the work that needs to be done. In Wisconsin, a gun-wielding resident who deliberately placed himself in a dangerous situation ended up fatally shooting two men and injuring another. He got a pass for fearing for his life. In my opinion, this decision is one of the worst in decades. I fear that the situation will be repeated as peaceful protesters “frighten” gun-wielding residents into shooting “threatening-looking” people. Many of you have threatening-looking children, spouses, and friends.

As you bake the cakes and cookies for your celebrations, think  about what you are doing to help secure the peace for our children and our children’s children.

Yours in solidarity, with wishes for a very happy holiday season,

—Martha Y. Zavala