Guest column: League of Women Voters to celebrate its 103rd birthday

On Tuesday, the League of Women Voters will be celebrating its 103rd birthday. Leagues around the country will be marking this event. The League was founded in 1920 just six months before the ratification of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. Carrie Chapman Catt, a suffragist, is credited with the founding of the League. Its mission was to help the 20 million newly eligible voters, women, learn about voting.

However, from the beginning, the League believed that education aimed at all of the electorate, not just women, was needed. The League today continues with the mission of “Empowering Voters, Defending Democracy” by registering voters, providing information about the candidates and the issues, getting out the vote and supporting fair and transparent elections.

The League of Women Voters is political but nonpartisan. It never supports political parties or candidates, but it does study issues, develop consensus positions and actively works to support those positions. The League encourages informed and active participation in government and works to increase voter understanding of major public policy issues.

In 1973 the decision was made to include men as full members of the League. Over the decades the League has been involved with many different activities. In the 1930s, League members worked successfully for enactment of Social Security and the Food and Drug Act. In the 1940s and after World War II, the league helped to ensure U.S. participation in the United Nations and served as a consultant to the U.S. delegation. The League was one of the first organizations officially recognized by the UN as an NGO. To this day the League still maintains official observer status to the UN.

Another interesting tidbit is that in 1976 the League won an Emmy Award for the Presidential Debates which the League sponsored. The League-sponsored debates focused on nonpartisan issues with the goal of informing voters. The League withdrew its sponsorship of presidential debates in 1988 due to increasingly partisan conditions. However, local leagues still conduct candidate forums so that voters can hear directly from the candidates to help better inform their choice when they go to the polls.

Local leagues also inform the voters on the ballot measures with factual, nonbiased information. In 1993, the League had a grassroots campaign for national legislation to reform voter registration which resulted in the passage of the National Voter Registration Act. The League continues to be involved in advocating for voter registration reform, redistricting reform to eliminate partisan and racial gerrymandering, protecting voting rights, countering misinformation and disinformation, increasing voter participation and more; all while continuing its nonpartisan stance and emphasis on voter education with the intent of creating a stronger more representative democracy.

Ventura County has an active League of Women Voters which was officially recognized in March 1960 after a group of women began organizing in 1958. The mission of our local league and our activities align with those of the National and State Leagues. We welcome new members to help expand our reach and continue with our mission of empowering voters and defending democracy. For more information, go to lwvventuracounty.org.

Kathy Morgan is the President of the League of Women Voters Ventura County.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Guest column: League of Women Voters to celebrate its 103rd birthday