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Date: 8/1/2024
Subject: August 2024 VOTER Newsletter
From: LWVRichardson

VOTER NEWSLETTER

Vol. 64, No. 1 August 2024 Editor: Virginia Marsh

Inside this Issue

In Memorium: Joan Pask
Become a Poll Worker
Prepare to Vote
Don't Spread Mis- or Dis-information
Connecting with voters where they are
Nurturing our Membership

Key Dates in August 2024

Aug 1 Poll Worker Recruitment Day
Aug 9 Voter Registration Drive at Cityline's BoHo Market, 4pm-10pm
Aug 26 Women's Equality Day

In memorium: Joan Pask

Long-time League of Women Voters of Richardson member Joan Pask passed away Sunday, July 21. Joan joined the League in 1969 and was engaged in many League activities.

She headed up the phone tree to get information to members back in the “old days”.
Joan advocated for children through her engagement with the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
She attended numerous events supporting CHIP and used her creativity entertaining the children while their parents completed forms and learned about the program.
She was a gifted artist and poet and generously shared her talents to illustrate many early LWVR publications and projects.
She frequently wrote letters to elected officials as part of her advocacy efforts.

Though her health declined recently, she remained a loyal League supporter.

Joan was preceded in death by her husband Albert. She is survived by a son Kevin, who lives in Canada, and a daughter Jenny, who lives locally. She is also survived by four granddaughters.

Become a Poll Worker

Every voter should be able to easily and efficiently cast their vote - whether during the primary season or in November’s general election.

And yet, so often that experience is not what happens.

That’s why it’s so important that poll workers are identified early and often to help make sure everyone’s vote is easily cast.

August 1 is Poll Worker Recruitment Day – and to prepare for November 2024, we’re helping find people in communities around the country to be part of making sure election sites run smoothly.

Poll workers are critical to help maintain safe and accessible in-person voting for voters with disabilities, voters who need language assistance, or for voters who simply want to cast their ballot in person as they always have.

It’s a major presidential election year and election administrators need poll workers who are committed to ensuring safe, fair, and free elections for all voters. Join us as we push for poll workers on August 1, and learn how you can get involved now.

If you are interested in becoming a Poll Worker (it's a paid job), Contact

Collin County

Dallas County

Help Your Friends and Family Prepare to Vote

As enthusiasm for the November 5th election grows around the country, it’s important for everyone, especially young voters, to be ready to vote. Even though it’s only August, this would be a good time to remind friends and family:

1. That college students will need to decide if they are going to vote using their college address or their parents’ address as their place of residence. They will need to register where they plan to vote, and decide whether they will be voting in person or need to request a mail ballot in time to fill it out and return it.

2. That they will need to register to vote prior to the registration deadline in their state of residence. In Texas, the deadline to vote in the November 2024 election is October 7th. Click here to find out about voter registration deadlines in other states.

If friends or family who live in the Richardson or RISD area need to register to vote, they can contact the League of Women Voters of Richardson. If they live in other parts of Texas, they can fill in a registration application , print it, and snail-mail it to their county registrar.

3. If they are already registered to vote in Texas, they can check to see if their registration is still valid. If their registration status shows as “Suspense” (rather than “Active”), they will need to re-register in their county of residence, and may need to show documentation confirming their place of residence.

4. That it’s important to be prepared before they go to vote. While they are not required to vote for every race on their ballot, they should know that many of the people who are elected in November will be setting the future policies that will affect every aspect of their lives.

Closer to Election Day, they can enter their address at VOTE411.org to see ALL the candidates on their ballot, and to compare their responses to LWV-produced Voters Guide questions side-by-side.

5. That they can find out if they’re eligible to vote by mail if voting in Texas.

6. That any registered voter in Texas may vote in person during early voting between October 21 and November 1, or on Election Day, November 5. They must bring acceptable photo ID to the polls if voting in person.

Click here to view a chart outlining voting laws in other states.

Don't spread Mis- or Dis-information!

What is Misinformation? Disinformation? How can I recognize it?

Be informed. Don't help spread mis-information or dis-information!

The National League of Women Voters produced the following flyer on the do's and don'ts of election disinformation.

Check with your League of Women Voters of Richardson for factual, nonpartisan information.

Voter Registration

Connecting with voters where they are

This has been a busy summer for Voter Registration. We have reached voters where they live, where they shop, where they commute, and where they learn. We have had several new avenues to educate and register voters and have developed new partnerships.

But there's more work to be done!!! It is our goal to reach as many voters as possible in as many varied locations as possible. We have partnered with the City of Richardson to register voters in each of the Richardson recreation centers on September 17, National Voter Registration Day. We would love to have YOUR help as we have volunteer opportunities both day and evening.

Mark your calendar to be a part of this nationwide effort. To volunteer, reach out to

Janet Centola at VoterReg@LWVRichardson.com

Our recent participation in the Richardson Chamber of Commerce Non-Profit Fair helped LWVR connect to several other non-profits in the community. In addition to meeting with several non-profit program participants, we provided voter information and registration cards to a sober living community in our area and connected them to VoteRiders to assist their clients with appropriate Identification access. We discussed ballot by mail with another organization helping with transplant patients. We talked with prospective members and may have picked up a donor, thanks to Nita Thomason’s efforts to welcome new members.

This summer we also held successful registration drives at senior living facilities, at a Cityline outdoor event, the Network of Community Ministries’ Senior Program, and Richardson ISD’s teacher 2-Day Training Conference. Cathy Murphree and her team have continued to register new voters at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and, of course, at the Naturalization ceremonies. She has also reached out to West Coast University to register students there.

We have multiple efforts scheduled for August that include an immunization clinic at St. Barnabas, a Richardson ISD Council of PTAs event, and another event at Cityline. We have partnered with the National Voter Registration Day organization to prepare for our simultaneous efforts on September 17th. National Voter Registration Day is the nation’s largest single-day voter registration drive. In addition to our regular outreach efforts, LWVR will be part of the effort on September 17, National Voter Registration Day, to create broad awareness of voter registration opportunities through in-person events, virtual events, and media outreach.

Every year, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote because they miss a registration deadline, don’t update their registration, or aren’t sure how to register.

Voters need to register or update their registration for reasons such as moving to a new address, turning 18, becoming a citizen, or changing their names (e.g. getting married or divorced).

In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as many as one in four Americans reported not being registered to vote or unsure if they were registered.
A 2020 study by the Knight Foundation found more than one in four unregistered voters (27%) reported not being registered because they didn’t know how, kept forgetting, did not have time, were too busy, or had recently moved.
Among unregistered voters aged 18-24, this percentage was even higher at 42%.

Luckily, you know that you can count on your League of Women Voters of Richardson to provide you with the information and means to register to vote. Let your familly and friends know! Contact LWVR if you need to register to vote...or have any question about voting.

LWVRichardson can help you with registering to vote in Collin County and in Dallas County.
LWVRichardson can answer your voting questions for Collin County and Dallas County.
For nonpartisan election and voter registration information, contact your League of Women Voters of Richardson at:

email: VoterReg@lwvrichardson.org

phone: 972-470-0584

website: www.lwvrichardson.org

Facebook: LWVRichardsonTX

Instagram: @LWVRichardson

Nurturing our Membership

One of our League of Women Voters of Richardson goals is to increase the number of our members, especially younger members. We actually have two college-age members now serving on our Board - Isabella Spartz and Chandu Garapaty. We hope to get several more.

Thanks to the efforts of Cathy Murphree, LWVR has a visible presence on the University of Texas - Dallas campus. She is registering voters there regularly. Janet Centola is also scheduling Voter Registration Events at Back to School and PTA activities, which will also increase our contacts with younger parents and teachers. Please encourage everyone to invite younger men and women to our events and tell them about the many worthwhile endeavors in which we engage.

Another of our goals is to help us get better acquainted with one another. We will be scheduling regular social events at our Calendar Planning meeting and we want to encourage everyone, members or not, to come to these socials. They are fun, usually involve great food and drink, as well as give us an opportunity to develop and deepen friendships within our organization.

Donate

The League of Women Voters of Richardson relies solely on contributions made by local community residents and businesses.

Join Us

Would you like to help provide election information, register voters, or influence public policy?

You are welcome to email our Membership chair at membership@lwvrichardson.org

if you need assistance with joining.

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