The Greater Champaign County League of Women Voters was represented with a booth at the county fair last week.
Photo from the organization’s Facebook page
By Alixandria Wells-Good
Contributing writer
The League of Women Voters (LWV) – a nonpartisan organization that works to “protect and expand voting rights” – has a new local chapter that is open to anyone in the area.
The nationwide organization says that they “empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation, at the local, state, and national levels” through their 700-plus state and local leagues.
The LWV was founded in 1920 by the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Chicago, six months before the 19th amendment was ratified. On a national level, the LWV has been instrumental in many legislative successes benefiting both women and men across the county. More on the league’s history can be found on its website.
The new local chapter, which is called the “Greater Champaign County” League of Women’s Voters, is the only chapter in the west-central Ohio area. The league welcomes all genders and is hoping that serving the “greater Champaign County area” will encourage people from surrounding counties to get involved also, since there are no other local LWV in the area.
The Greater Champaign County League is looking forward to working with the community in different ways to educate and promote voting. They plan on attending local events, like the fair, the annual Chili Cook Off and Fish and Shrimp Festival.
Being nonpartisan, they are hoping to connect with the local schools to begin educating high schoolers on voting rights and the importance of voting, and when eligible, helping them register to vote. One goal that the league has is to start local candidate forums for the community to participate in.
Michelle Frost, convener of the Greater Champaign County LWV, shared that in recent years Champaign County has had a 34% voter turnout in elections.
Frost stated, “I think people think ‘my vote doesn’t count, I’m only one person’ but we have had the sheriff’s race in this county decided by less than 100 votes. We’ve had levies decided by less than 20 votes. So they really do matter. And our focus is local, it’s community. Things are partisan on a national level, it shouldn’t be that way locally. The things that we’re (the local League) trying to do will benefit everybody. Getting more people to vote will benefit everybody because more people are represented, more people will have a voice. Your vote is your voice.”
Frost went on to say that the chapter’s big push right now is voter registration. They hope to help people in the community become comfortable and familiar with checking if they’re registered to vote, and if they’re not helping get them registered. They also hope to help people figure out if they need to do provisional or absentee voting, and much more.
Frost shared, “Our hope is to get people more comfortable with being civically engaged. It’s real easy with the climate the way it is to feel powerless, this is a way to get power back to people.”
Currently, the Greater Champaign County League of Women Voters has around 50 members and they are hoping to expand as they do more outreach in the community.
Information on becoming a member can be found online, or by attending a meeting. Meetings are held at the Champaign County Library every third Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. Meetings are held to plan upcoming events and other purposes, and also to provide community education and outreach. All genders and members of all political parties are welcome to attend, whether you’re a member or not.
More information can be found about meetings and local events on their Facebook page.
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