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Celebrating Women’s History Month
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Women’s History Month Panel Discussion
Thursday, March 3, 9 -10 am
In the wake of the 2020 Presidential Election, our right to vote has become more vulnerable. Join this panel discussion featuring perspectives of the League of Women Voters, SuperMajority (a voting advocacy hub), League of United Latin American Citizens, and Black Voters Matter. These organizations work to build more trust in our elections, grow our electorate with equity, and create fairness for voter access. We'll cover the intersection of gender and race in the voting rights movement, fighting barriers to voting, and getting out the vote in 2022.
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 Women’s History in the Eden Area
Monday, March 21, 7 pm
The League of Women Voters Eden Area (Hayward, Castro Valley, San Leandro, San Lorenzo) will present a program with speaker Molly Murphy MacGregor, founder of the National Women's History Alliance. The program will cover how California women in the Eden Area and elsewhere gained the right to vote in 1911 - nine years ahead of the nation.
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Defending Democracy Speaker
TODAY, March 1, 4 pm
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Hear Dean Chemerinsky, a nationally recognized expert on the US Supreme Court and election law, discuss the scope of SCOTUS power to affect our elections and looming threats to our voting rights. His free talk will be live on Zoom and YouTube (click link at time of event). It is co-sponsored by local Leagues including LWVO, and hosted by the Piedmont League. Sneak peek: “Expect a Momentous Year Ahead for the Supreme Court,” American Bar Association Journal, January 6, 2022.
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Celebrating International Women’s Day
Tuesday, March 8, 6 - 7 pm
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March 8 is International Women's Day. The goal this year is to create a gender-equal world, celebrate women’s success and raise awareness against bias. Join the Leadership Oakland Alumni Association to discuss the future of Oakland with female leaders making a difference in our community. Registration is $10 for this virtual event.
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Small Donor Public Financing
TOMORROW, March 2, Noon
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Learn how big money dominates local elections in our city, making it hard for community voices to break through. Everyone should have the opportunity to run for public office and donate to candidates who reflect their interests. Join the LWVO and other community groups to learn how you can help make this happen. Hear experts on money in politics and explore a possible solution: Democracy Dollars!
See "Meet Jonathan Mehta Stein" interview below for more details.
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Raising Awareness About the Equal Rights Amendment
Saturday, March 19, 5 - 9:30 pm
In-person event
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Across the world, 168 Constitutions guarantee gender equality - but not ours. Come to the kickoff of the nationwide “Artists 4 ERA” traveling show in support of the ERA movement. The show features pieces by 25 artists, including from Oakland. It will benefit the non-partisan non-profit VoteEquality, whose mission is to inspire support for finally adding gender equality to our Constitution. Join us at Oakstop's Broadway Gallery, 1721 Broadway, opening at 5 pm, reception 7- 9:30 pm.
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Meet Jonathan Mehta Stein
Executive Director, Common Cause California
 California Common Cause is dedicated to building a democracy that includes everyone. They work on voting rights, redistricting reform, government transparency, and money in politics to end structural inequities in our state and local democracies and to create governments at all levels that are accountable to and reflective of California's communities.
Common Cause is one of the most important good government organizations in the Bay Area. What brought you to the social justice work you do?
One of my first political memories is when my working mom dropped us off at the Clinton-Gore campaign office in 1992 to stuff envelopes. I was nine and my brother was seven. We didn’t know who Bill Clinton or Al Gore were but it really left us with an impression that even we could make a difference. Only later in life did I realize my mom, who is an Indian immigrant, was not a naturalized US citizen in 1992, so she couldn’t even vote in that election. We were just raised with a belief that we all had a role to play in our democracy and that everyone in our community should have a voice.
What brought me to my current work….
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Oakland Redistricting - Final Map
After months of public debate, the Oakland Redistricting Commission last week approved a resolution to adopt Draft Map F5, which describes the new boundaries for the City Council and School Board. The new Oakland district lines will be in effect for next November’s election and for the next decade. LWVO monitored every Commission meeting and suggested multiple process improvements and guidelines or pointed out perceived problems.
Check the next newsletter for the full story of LWVO's engagement.
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State Redistricting Unchallenged
After a raucous state redistricting cycle, the deadline for lawsuits challenging the state maps has passed, with no suits filed. The LWVC redistricting team spent over 500 hours monitoring meetings, working with community partners and coalitions, and providing public comment to ensure that the Commission acted in spirit and practice to create fair, people-powered maps.
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LWVO Centennial Book Club
“The Sum of Us”
Thursday, March 17, 6 pm
Join the discussion of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, by Heather McGhee (2021). According to Ms. McGhee, racism is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy. Read how our public goods—from parks and pools to functioning schools—have become private luxuries; how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, inequality increased and universal healthcare has been thwarted. How did this happen? Is there a way out?
RSVP to lwvobookclub@gmail.com to receive Zoom link.
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Volunteer Opportunity
 We’re already hard at work getting Voter’s Edge ready for the June 2022 primary! Voter’s Edge is an online voter guide produced by the LWVC Education Fund in partnership with MapLight. During the 2020 election season, 1 in 10 California voters used Voter’s Edge to get a personalized list of candidates and ballot measures, campaign finance information and more. We plan to grow that number this year.
How do we get the information for Voter’s Edge? A dedicated group of volunteers gathers local election information so voters have a one stop shop for all their non-partisan ballot information and can confidently cast their votes. Help make Voter's Edge the most robust source of information for California's voters.
Email ca-alm@votersedge.org to join the team
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