Dozens of League leaders from across the state gathered in Greensboro on Jan. 26 and 27 for Power the South: North Carolina. Hotel accommodations and meals were provided by LWVUS.
The idea behind Power the South is to connect League members, encourage thought partnership, and find new ways to support each other.
Informative and engaging sessions – led by LWVUS team members including Southeast Regional Organizer Demetrius Fisher and Chief of Programs Alma Couverthie – focused on what's anticipated for 2024, get-out-the-vote strategizing, ways to combat mis- and dis-information, membership recruitment, and more.
Here are some key takeaways:
- In this crucial election year, it’s more important than ever that we make sure voters have the information they need and that they make their voices heard.
- The League’s real power is people power. Trust begins with the members and volunteers at the local level. LWVUS, LWVNC, and local Leagues work together best when they communicate, coordinate, and customize.
- The League’s key principles must be incorporated into everything the League does: non-partisanship, issue focused, and committed to DEI.
- There are many threats to democracy. Among them: white supremacy, inequality, misogyny, and apathy. But this work is also rewarding work. Rommel Sandino, LWVUS national organizing director, encouraged attendees to hold onto the reason they got into the fight to begin with. “Remember that reason when you’re in dark times,” he said.
- The antidote of powerlessness is organizing, which centers people, power, and transformation.
- People-centered organizing develops and nurtures others as leaders.
- People aren’t moved by facts as much as they are moved by trust in confident, passionate storytellers.
- The League in Action app is an easy way to check on your friends about their voting plans. The app does not retain your friends’ contact information.
- Local Leagues can test their power by assessing membership, candidate participation, voter turnout, press coverage, and communications analytics.
- When it comes to get-out-the-vote strategies, Leagues should promote VOTE411 as the place for trusted information; lean into direct outreach to individual voters (rather than passive methods, such as hanging flyers); plan outreach efforts around key election dates, such as voter registration deadlines; and target underrepresented groups, including young voters, new citizens, recent movers, and voters of a low income.
- In 2024, be relentlessly motivational when talking to voters. Everyone needs to vote, and everyone needs to know that they must bring their photo ID in order to do so. The voter ID rule was in effect for 2023, but many people did not participate in that election, so this information will be news to many.
- Mis- and dis-information drives fear and polarization. Everyone must work to combat it – not just our institutions. The key to combatting it is to cultivate conversations that anchor the truth, collaborate with organizations that work to renew trust in democracy, and build trusted messengers in your community.
- To ensure that you don’t spread any misinformation by accident, verify things before you share them, pause and reflect before you act, and read beyond the headline.
- When debunking a falsehood, emphasize what is true over what is wrong. Focus on the audience that is persuadable, not the audience that yearns to get on board with baseless arguments.
- Chief of Programs Alma Couverthie said that now is the time for the League to lean into its non-partisan principles. “We have 104 years of experience defining the power of non-partisanship,” she said. “We are the experts on non-partisanship. Don’t let people tell you otherwise. … If being non-partisan wasn’t powerful, there wouldn’t be so many attempts to chip away at.”
- Membership is the lifeblood of the League and should be treated like a sales cycle. Attract and retain members by simplifying the onboarding process, providing targeted, thoughtful incentives, using League in Action and social media, building camaraderie through events, and giving members meaningful tasks.
- Engaging members leads to growing the membership. The key to engagement? Utilizing diverse paths of communication.
At the closing of Power the South, participants reflected on what they would take away, and the consensus was clear: With gratitude, pride, and passion, the League is ready to double down its efforts as it works to build community in this critical election year!
