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Friend, 

Sending you virtual May Day baskets, League leaders! 

Last week, the Senate failed to affirm the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as part of the US Constitution. After the vote, LWVUS CEO Virginia Kase Solomón joined advocates and partners and called on legislators to move the ERA across the finish line. Gender equality is essential to our democracy, and we will not stop fighting until that is reflected in our nation’s laws. Join us and urge your representatives to pass the ERA. 

May is the month we celebrate both Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month. I hope you will join me this May in honoring and uplifting the contributions and voices of the AANHPI and Jewish American communities.

As a grassroots organization, we know that building collective power in our communities is critical to empowering voters and defending democracy. To ensure that we can accomplish our mission and strengthen each League’s organizing capacity, I am excited to announce our own digital relational organizing platform called League In Action. Powered by OutreachCircle, League in Action is an LWV-branded app designed to help your League strengthen relationships with supporters, activate community members, and power our democracy. Learn more about League in Action on the League Management Site.

Additionally, with many state League conventions underway, I am excited to welcome new League members into leadership within the organization. It is critical that our key principles — our nonpartisanship and DEI — are shared with and understood by everyone. We recently created guidance for Leagues that outline actions steps and resources on our nonpartisanship policy and our DEI values. I strongly encourage you to read through this guidance and share it with your boards and members. It is always good practice to take a moment to review our policies and resources! 

You are all aware that May is a busy time of the year, with local and primary elections just weeks away. If you have not already, I encourage you to check out our Election Preparation Toolkit for key resources and information around Election Day. In addition, graduation season is approaching, with many new graduates navigating elections and voting for the first time. Empower young voters in your community with our graduation vote-ready graphics. Reach out to your local schools and partner with them in making sure their graduates are ready to vote. 

Finally, I want to remind Leagues that operate on a calendar year to file their Form 990-N by next Monday, May 15. All Leagues that receive less than $50,000 in income must file an e-postcard, or Form 990-N, every year. Guidance on how to file your Form 990-N can be found on the League Management Site.

Enjoy the coming alive feeling of this season and spring into your League work as we anticipate a busy year ahead.

Working with you and for you every day.

In League,

Deborah

See all upcoming events on the League Management Site.

• Action Alert: Tell Congress to Ensure That the ERA Is Published

The LWVUS evaluation department wants to improve how they share data with Leagues. Please reflect on how you used the data from the 2022 Annual League Survey and fill out this short survey by May 30, 2023.

Now is the time to consider and apply to attend the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, UAE. The conference will take place Nov. 30, 2023 – Dec. 12, 2023. If interested, complete the application form. The deadline to apply is July 1, 2023. This is a self-funded opportunity; see application for links to learn more about the conference. If you have questions, please contact Robin Tokmakian (rtokmakian@lwv.org). 

• Blog: How LWV Registered 37k+ New Citizen Voters in 2022
• Templates: Election Season VOTE411 Graphics & Sample Posts

Graduation season is approaching, with many new graduates navigating election and voting for the first time. Empower young voters in your community with our graduation vote-ready graphics. These graphics are available in both English and Spanish and sized for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Access these graphics on the League Management Site.

Leagues that operate on a calendar year need to file their Form 990-N by May 15. All Leagues that receive less than $50,000 in income must file an e-postcard return (also known as Form 990-N) every year, with only a few exceptions. Form 990-N should only take a few minutes to complete and is entirely web-based; there isn’t a paper version. More information can be found here.

State leaders are invited to register now for Council 2023. Council will take place June 22 – 25 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Each state League is invited to bring one to three state-level leaders. State leaders can register here.

• Letter: LWVUS Joins Letter Urging HHS to Take Action to Keep People Covered During Medicaid Unwinding
• Letter: LWVUS Comments on OMB Race and Ethnicity Data Standards

• Board members from the League of Women Voters of Duluth, MN, authored an op-ed outlining the importance of a national popular vote. Learn more: Local View: Popular vote for president ‘essential to representative government’.
• Mary Kay Rosinski from the League of Women Voters of the Villages/Tri-County, FL, wrote about voting rights in Florida and SB 7050. Read the piece: Voting rights in Florida are under attack.
• The League of Women Voters of Manistee County, MI, is working with their county clerk’s office to register high school seniors to vote. Learn more: League of Women Voters works to empower young people in Manistee County.

Special Notifications: To help keep members informed, LWVUS sends this bi-weekly, internal email newsletter to state and local League presidents, as well as other highly engaged League members. The League Update includes important announcements about upcoming trainings and webinars, grant opportunities, messaging resources, stories from Leagues nationwide, and surveys to help LWVUS serve Leagues better. This newsletter is curated for League members specifically and is not intended for public consumption or distribution. 

Do you know a League member who wants to receive this email? Members can subscribe to receive the League Update here. Please do not reply to this message. To unsubscribe, please click the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of this email.