LWV of Jacksonville First Coast

This segment originally aired on WSLR.

The Sarasota School Board has made national headlines for pushing controversial educational policies and causing or tolerating uproar during what should be standard meetings, and some community members have had enough of the chaos. The League of Women Voters of Sarasota County have turned the tables on the School Board. This time, they are the ones creating report cards for the board, grading its governance practices and ability to hold an orderly meeting. WSLR’s Sophia Brown has a closer look at how the nonpartisan organization is going about this.

This story was originally published by Associated Press.

For a century, the League of Women Voters in Florida formed bonds with marginalized residents by helping them register to vote — and, in recent years, those efforts have extended to the growing Asian American and Asian immigrant communities.

But a state law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May would have forced the group to alter its strategy.

This story was originally published by WSFU.

Some voter registration groups in Tallahassee plan to stop delivering completed forms to elections offices to avoid the possibility of facing higher fines under a new state law.

"We are going to move to online registrations," said Trish Neely, president of the Tallahassee League of Women Voters. "We’re going to start making use of laptops, iPhones to help people be able to register themselves.”

Tallahassee, FL — Today, the League of Women Voters of Florida, represented by Campaign Legal Center (CLC), sued Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd 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.

Civic education and involvement are key to a healthy American democracy. Included are stories from states across the country about the importance of civic engagement and the work that they are doing to promote it. 

This blog highlights work in Florida, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.