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Don't miss our Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 19!
Join League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area at our upcoming Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 19.
It's a great opportunity to get (re)acquainted with new and old members, remind ourselves why we are part of this organization, and vote on various topics to keep our League moving forward.
At Annual meeting, you will vote on the next LWVCA Board of Directors, LWVCA budget and hear more about the state of LWVCA. If you have questions, contact us at info@lwvcincinnati.org.
Event Details
- Thursday, May 19, 2016,
- Agenda: 5:15 p.m. Registration, 6 p.m. Dinner, 6:30 p.m. League Discussion on the many choices for the 2016 election, 7 p.m. Business Meeting.
- Spouses and Guests are welcome!
- Bring your copy of Workbook 1
- Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church, Geier Room, 103 William Howard Taft Road, Cincinnati, OH 45219
- RSVP by Friday, May 13. Dinner and meeting is $20. Attending the meeting only is free.
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The President's Letter
Nancy Dawley, President
 Hello everyone,
Keep your eyes on Columbus. LWV of Ohio is encouraging legislators to move forward on Congressional Redistricting in Ohio. We will notify you if advocacy from local members will be helpful.
The Voter will now come via email to all who have provided us with their email address. You will be able to print your own copy (and in color), if that’s how you prefer to read The Voter. Those without email will receive a copy mailed through the U.S. Postal Service This change saves our volunteers and office staff considerable layout time, so more recent events can be included. As with all change, it may take a bit to get comfortable with it.
Please take time to read Liz Shockey’s report on Vote411. org. She is our technical guru who added information to the voter guide about the Hamilton County candidates running in the primary election. You’ll be pleased to know that Hamilton County residents were near the top for Ohio usage of Vote411. Can you think of ways we can further advertise this valuable voter guide to voters?
Unit discussions during March and April on the Metropolitan Sewer District and Cincinnati Preschool Promise were very timely. Thanks to our County Government, Natural Resources, and Education Committee members for preparing the materials and discussion questions. They continue to be involved as these issues progress. If you wish to join them or form ongoing discussion groups, call the office so we can put you in touch with the right persons.
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You are needed as a Poll Worker in November!
Members of the League of Women Voters are particularly qualified to become poll workers with their interest in and knowledge of election procedures. Poll workers get paid, as well.
A new website is available that provides detailed information about the job, as well as an application to complete.
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Vote411.org is a great resource for voters!
By Liz Shockey, LWVCA Vote411.org Coordinator
 What is Vote411.org?
Did you know that Vote411.org offers online all the resources of the printed voter guide? Vote411.org makes voting information even more accessible. In addition to an electronic voter guide, Vote411.org provides other voting resources—acceptable forms of identification by state, polling locations, and voter registration forms. LWVCA moved to Vote411.org from SmartVoter in 2014.
How we can make Vote411 more successful for the 2016 general election?
In the upcoming presidential election, voter participation is incredibly important. In March, our primary guide reached more than 3,000 online users on Vote411.org, and we hope to reach even more local voters online for the November election.
Working on Vote411.org is a great chance to be involved in the voting guide creation process, talk to local candidates, and develop new computer skills. Moreover, helping create our Vote411.org guide is a great chance to:
- Be in the know
- Encourage local candidates to participate in our local guide
- Ensure reliable information is available to voters
My Experience
For me, working on Vote411.org was a great opportunity to learn more about local races and the new technology. It was rewarding to see my personal ballot online, knowing I had helped create it. I especially enjoyed joining League members from other cities via webinars and Facebook to learn more about creating the website. There is a fantastic network of League volunteers who use Vote411.org for their local guides.
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Ohio's 2016 Statehouse Day was inspiring
By Nancy Dawley, LWVCA president
 Take a minute to browse through the LWV Ohio 2016 Statehouse Day program and see the topics and speakers involved in a most interesting and useful day. Something will catch your attention!
- Money in Judicial Elections
- Looking back at DeRolph v State of Ohio, and how is Ohio doing on addressing equitable school funding?
- Fixing Gerrymandering
- Ohio’s Infrastructure: What problems are hiding in plain sight?
- Addressing the Epidemic of Mass Shootings – How can we balance public safety, constitutional rights, and sensible regulations?
In addition, LWV Ohio’s volunteer lobbyists provided written reports on Juvenile Justice, Abolition of the Death Penalty, Gun Safety, Election Law, Alternative Energy, Redistricting, Hydraulic-Fracturing/Fracking, Land Use, the Housing Trust Fund: Know its Value, Primary and Secondary Education, Human Trafficking, Judiciary.
LWV Ohio lobbyists can be any LWV member. Start with your passion, and learn from there. Current lobbyists are happy to work with you to learn and to succeed. If you are interested, contact LWV Ohio.
LWVCA members are automatically members of LWVUS and LWV Ohio. What a bargain!
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Action Update: Ohio’s Plan to Impose Premiums on Low-Income Medicaid Participants
By Elizabeth Zak
 The 30-day window for public comment on the "Healthy Ohio" Medicaid waiver opened April 15 and closed May 13. If approved, the waiver would require a million low-income Ohioans to pay monthly premiums for their coverage and be penalized for certain behaviors. If the federal government approves the waiver, more Ohioans will be uninsured, Medicaid costs would increase, and the Medicaid system will be more complex for vulnerable Ohioans. Low-income individuals are especially sensitive to increases in medical out-of-pocket costs, and even modest co-payments can have the effect of reducing access to necessary medical care. For more information, go to the Medicaid Waiver issues page from LWVCA’s partner, Advocates for Ohio’s Future and see the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services July 2015 research findings: https://aspe.hhs.gov/basic-report/financial-condition-and-health-care-burdens-people-deep-poverty.
Your Action Needed: Tell the Ohio Department of Medicaid that Ohio’s Medicaid expansion can only continue to improve the health of low-income Ohioans by keeping people enrolled and insured. Submit your comment by May 13 at: HealthyOhio@odh.ohio.gov .
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Vote for your favorite project for the LWV United States Convention Awards
LWV of the United States has posted the finalists for the Making Democracy Work awards for Convention in June. There are several finalists from around the country including LWV Ohio's work oh State Issue 1 from this past November. Help us show how important Fair Districts are to Leagues by voting for Ohio!
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LWVUS Announces Updated ‘Money in Politics’ Position
by Elizabeth Zak
In January, the LWVCA gathered for a consensus study and presentation by Ohio State University Moritz School of Law Professor Daniel P. Tokaji on ‘Money in Politics.’ The presentation included an overview of campaign contributions and our most recent Supreme Court decisions, which depart from past prohibitions on corporate and direct contribution limits:
- In Citizens United v. FEC (2010) the Court held that First Amendment free speech protections extend to corporations, including corporate-funded express advocacy.While acknowledging that the government has a compelling interest in preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption, the Court majority stated that corruption could be found only in the case of a quid pro quo exchange, which cannot occur with an independent expenditure because there is no gift to the candidate.
- In McCutcheon v. FEC (2014), the Court further weakened the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act by striking its aggregate contribution limitations—the direct contributions that individuals can make to national parties and federal candidates per year ($123,200 for the 2013-14 election cycle). Under McCutcheon, a donor must keep contributions to individual candidates within the act’s limits but can donate to an infinite number of candidates, as well as to national parties.
Based on consensus reached by 336 local and state Leagues, the LWVCA announced, in early April, support for legislation to reform the Federal Election Commission (FEC). In addition to the traditional reason for campaign finance regulation—preventing corruption and undue influence in government—the League now supports several other goals, including: enhancing political equality for all citizens, protecting representative democracy from being distorted by big spending in election campaigns, providing voters sufficient information about candidates and campaign issues to make informed choices, ensuring transparency and the public’s right to know who is using money to influence elections and enabling candidates to compete equitably for public office.
For the LWVUS’s full Money in Politics position, visit: http://forum.lwv.org/member-resources/article/lwvus-position-money-politics.
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Fun from the Making Democracy Work Celebration Silent Auction!
By Sandra Maddux Mowell
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Caption: From the left: Sandra Maddux Mowell tubing at The Beach Mountain. Ernie Mowell in front of the UN Building in NYC.
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We have already enjoyed three items that we purchased during the Silent Auction of LWVCA’s Making Democracy Work Celebration. We enjoyed snow tubing at The Beach Mountain, aka The Beach Waterpark, and had a delicious breakfast at the Corner Coffee Café.
Then in April, we took off for New York City taking advantage of the “weekend in NY” stay in the apartment that was offered at the Silent Auction. We made a new friend in our hostess, Helen Rosenberg, who was full of good information on things to do in the city.
We visited the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, as well as took a tour of the United Nations. It was all great fun and we are looking forward to the fun stuff to bid on at next year’s Making Democracy Work Celebration!
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Renew your Kroger Community Rewards Card!
Help us reach voters while buying groceries by supporting the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area's Education Fund through Kroger Community Rewards!
It is time again to re-enroll your card for LWVCA so that we will receive a portion of your Kroger purchases.
Steps to enroll or re-enroll
- Visit www.kroger.com/communityrewards
- Sign in or create an account
- Click Enroll Now
- Search for League of Women Voters or the account number 80874
- Select League of Women Voters/Cincinnati Education Fund
- For assistance call the Kroger Community Rewards Support team at 1-866-221-4141 or the LWVCA office at (513) 281-VOTE (8683).
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MARCC hosting forum on Gun Control
Given the League of Women Voters of the United States' position on gun control, members may want to re-educate themselves on Gun Control and the 2nd Amendment. This program will be hosted by The Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati (MARCC) on May 24 at the U.C. College of Law.
- MARCC Let's Talk Session "Gun Control and the 2nd Amendment"
- Tuesday, May 24, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
- View the film "Making a Killing" followed by panel dialogue
- University of Cincinnati, College of Law, Room 114
- Tickets are free, but limited. Register at www.marcconline.com
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Rookwood Civic Confederation refreshed
By Rina Saperstein, LWVCA liaison to Rookwood Civic Confederation
Six civic organizations, including the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area, continue to meet for mutual support as the "Rookwood Civic Confederation."
The goal is to facilitate sharing strategies, avoiding schedule and capacity conflicts, identifying gaps and needs and building a citizen voice.
Under a new "refresh" plan, the group meets quarterly with two liaisons from each of the six organizations: LWVCA, Woman’s City Club, Cincinnatus Association, Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, AIR, Inc., and Citizens for Civic Renewal.
At our April meeting, we shared upcoming events and studies, and the group announced two collective efforts to support this work. Check them out!
The next meeting is August 16 at 8:30 a.m. and LWVCA is the meeting host. LWVCA liaisons are Elizabeth Brown and Carolyn Miller, but meetings are open to other members.
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Help Ohio Voters choose their judges with Judicial Votes Count
 This year, LWV Ohio began a project to increase participation in judicial races and raise voter awareness of judicial races and candidates.
The new website JudicialVotesCount.com offers voters across the state a chance to learn more about local and state candidates running for a judicial seat in the November general election.
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On Equal Pay Day, Sewell-Belmont House becomes Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
By the White House and Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
Caption: A hallway inside the newly-designated Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument.
One day in 1917, a dozen women gathered in front of the White House to stage a silent protest for women’s right to vote.
Spectators yelled at them, kicked them, and spit on them. They ripped the banners from their hands and threw them onto the ground.
Undaunted, these women brought those tattered banners back to a house across town. They cleaned them -- sometimes carefully re-stitching them -- and carried them back out the next day, and the next, and the next.
It's my job today to preserve those same banners, alongside an extensive collection of other artifacts that showcase the struggle and accomplishments of the movement for women’s equality. I do it all from the house that became their final headquarters in Washington, D.C., known as the Sewall-Belmont House.
Today, on Equal Pay Day, President Obama is permanently protecting this house by designating it as America's newest national monument.
Watch President Obama as he honors the movement for women's equality by designating this historic home as the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument.
From this house, members of the National Woman's Party led the movement for women's equality, authoring more than 600 pieces of federal, state, and local legislation in support of equal rights.
The President's designation will preserve an extensive archival collection that documents the history of the movement to secure women’s suffrage and equal rights in the United States and across the globe.
We've come a long way since those protests almost a century ago. For me, preserving this site isn’t just about remembering the suffragist movement. It’s also about celebrating our spirit as Americans -- the idea that if we work together and empower one another, we can make our government work better for all of us.
So I hope you'll take a moment today to celebrate this moment and watch the President speak about protecting a site that holds a significant place in our history.
Thanks,
Page Harrington
Executive Director
Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument
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May 2016 Calendar
- Noon, Tuesday, May. 3 LWVO All-Member Conference Call
- 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, Education Committee, LWVCA - Greg Landsman, Pre-School Promise
- 6:15 p.m., Wednesday, May 11 Central Evening Discussion Unit, LWVCA Conference Room
- 6 p.m., Thursday, May 12 Board of Directors
- 10 a.m., Friday, May 13 Naturalization Ceremony, Saint Veronica Elementary School
- 5:15 p.m. Thursday, May 19 Annual Meeting, Geier Room, Mt. Auburn Pres. Church
- 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 24 MARCC - Let's Talk Gun Control. Movie and panel
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