Archive for the Voting Rights Category

By MJ Range The Palm Beach County League will host a postcard writing event on April 6 at the Okeechobee library branch at 5689 Okeechobee Blvd. from 10 a.m. to noon.  The State League has been involved with the Restoration of Voting Rights effort since 2016. This latest project is to write postcards to those who have returned from incarceration but may owe fees and fines.  The postcard includes a phone number to call to receive help from a pro-bono attorney trained in researching.  Come and join us.  Please RSVP to Mary Jane Range, mjrange@comcast.net or (561) 339-9522.

RETURNING CITIZEN POST CARD PROJECT SET FOR OCT. 21 By MJ Range The LWVFL has been engaged in a project to help returning citizens regain their right to vote. The project involves sending postcards to returning citizens (we have names and addresses) telling them how to get clarification of their fees and fines or other issues prohibiting their registration; the League has trained pro bono lawyers who can assist them. League groups all over the state are gathering to write postcards and many other civic organizations, social clubs and political entities are joining the effort. Here in Palm Beach County, we have set aside Oct. 21 at 10:15 a.m. at the Greenacres Library, 3750 Jog Road, for our League members to participate. We will supply all the details and each person will receive a package of postcards and a sheet of names and addresses. To protect the privacy of the

By Kate Renchin, Co-chair, PBC Voting Rights Coalition It’s hard to think of anyone in the history of our country more associated with the preservation and extension of Voting Rights than U.S. Rep. John R. Lewis. He was a lifelong passionate and powerful advocate for civil rights as well as voting rights. He, like the League, knew the power of the vote to advance goals of equity and justice for all. Rep. Lewis’ entire life and legacy are an inspiration, dating to his younger days leading the 1963 March on Washington and the historic 1964 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on what came to be known as Bloody Sunday. The violent response to the marchers by law enforcement led to the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 which prohibited racial discrimination in voting. It affirmed the rights of racial and language minority voters and contained pre-clearance provisions for

LWVFL Sues State for Hampering Voter Engagement Efforts TALLAHASSEE — The League of Women Voters of Florida, represented by the Campaign Legal Center, sued Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd on May 24 to block provisions of Florida’s recently enacted omnibus election law that would restrict and penalize basic nonpartisan civic engagement efforts. The law, Senate Bill 7050, directly targets and drastically restricts the ability of nonpartisan civic engagement organizations, like the League of Women Voters of Florida, to engage with voters, violating their right to freedom of speech and association. LISTEN HERE: NPR radio station WGCU in Southwest Florida interviews the lead Campaign Legal Center attorney representing the LWVFL in its lawsuit over SB 7050. Listen to the Radio Show. “Folks helping their neighbors access and exercise the fundamental freedom to vote is one of the pillars of our democracy,” said Paul Smith, senior vice president at

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION: Restoration of Voting Rights for Returning Citizens
By Debra Chandler, Returning Citizens Action Team Co-chair
LWVPBC and LWVFL joined forces on March 29 to educate and inform on the plight of returning citizens. Felons who have completed their sentences are still intimidated into foregoing their franchise.

LWVFL Presents The Rights and Representation Town Hall Wednesday, March 29, 2023 – 6:30 P.M. – 8:30 P.M. FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC GAINES PARK 1501 N. AUSTRALIAN AVENUE WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33401 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! [pdf-embedder url=”https://lwvpbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/March-2023-Rights-Restoration-Community-Conversation-AVIL-Included.pdf” title=”March 2023 – Rights Restoration Community Conversation – AVIL Included”] The League of Women Voters is hosting a community conversation event in West Palm Beach that will address a range of topics related to helping returning citizens (persons with felony convictions) restore their voting rights in Florida. The event will feature a panel discussion of stakeholders who are able to address the most important issues affecting people impacted by the criminal legal system, including returning citizens. Currently, the state of Florida has no statewide database or one-stop system in place to give returning citizens assurances about their voting eligibility and/or flag those who attempt to register to vote by a genuine