Education fund.

ELECTION REFORM

"Building Awareness of the Need to Bring American Democracy to America's Capital!" kicked off the League's DC Voting Rights project. The well attended Convention workshop featured an interactive discussion on what Leagues can do to raise public awareness of the unique disenfranchisement issues affecting DC citizens. Leagues have been invited to apply for one of the 20 pass-through grants to support citizen education through media outreach and outreach to the public.

The Public Advocacy for Voter Protection project has the LWVUS/EF working closely with six selected state Leagues--Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These Leagues are working to educate voters regarding changes and practices that are either deliberately or inadvertently harmful to eligible voters. They are also countering those negative policies through action directed at legislators, elections officials and other policymakers, the media, and concerned citizens. Issues related to voter registration databases and restrictive voter identification requirements are the most critical in this grant funded program. Another concern that emerged this year is the onerous restrictions placed on voter registration drive participants by some states. See the article on p. 7 of this Voter.

JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE

In August, the League of Women Voters was honored as the first recipient of the Hod Greeley Judicial Outreach Award at the American Bar Association (ABA) annual meeting in Hawaii. The ABA established this award "to recognize individuals and organizations dedicated to promoting increased public awareness of the need for a fair and impartial judiciary." The League was nominated for this award by the Justice at Stake Campaign, with the support of the Brennan Center and the Constitution Project.

During a plenary session of the 2006 national LWV Convention, four distinguished panelists addressed the importance of an independent judiciary. They discussed the different state judicial selection systems, including merit selection, appointments, and retention elections. On the panel were Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court Michael Wolff; Professor Charles Geyh, Indiana University School of Law; and Mary McQueen, president, National Center for State Courts. Bert Brandenburg, executive director of Justice at Stake, was the moderator.

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VOTER OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

The League is expanding its traditional set of voter education tools--voters' guides, debates and voter registration--with the launch of VOTE411 in September. This LWVUS/EF "one-stop-shop" Web site for election related information provides general and state-specific information on voter registration and absentee ballot deadlines, early voting provisions, ID requirements, voting machine types and much more. One important feature of VOTE411 is the polling place locator that allows users to key in their addresses and learn their poll locations. Knowing where to go to vote is one of the most sought after pieces of information concerning Election Day. Read more about VOTE411 on p. 20 in this Voter.

An additional component of VOTE411 is the Overseas Vote Foundation's (OVF) VOTERTOOLS. For the first time, the League has an effective way to help American voters who live overseas. As an Alliance Partner of the OVF, an organization dedicated to providing voter services to overseas voters, the League is helping to expand outreach efforts into new communities of voters and voter-oriented organizations.

Information from state and local League Voters' Guides is yet another component of VOTE411. Not only will such candidate information be useful to voters, but inclusion on VOTE411 provides a national platform for League Voters' Guides and increases League outreach and visibility. Voters' Guides should be sent to [e-mail].

The LWVUS is partnering with ZGS Communications, the largest independent owner of Telemundo affiliate television stations, to launch the 2006 Tu Voto, Tu Voz series, a public awareness campaign to encourage voter registration and electoral participation among U.S. Latinos, whose population now exceeds 40 million. Portions of 10 states, including Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, New Mexico, and North Carolina and the District of Columbia are serviced by ZGS stations. Through a variety of public service announcements (PSAs) and community events often conducted jointly with Leagues, the "Tu Voto, Tu Voz" campaign will underscore the importance of citizenship, provide information on registering to vote, and encourage voting on Election Day. The PSAs will feature community leaders, League representatives, Telemundo talent and celebrity spokespersons.

LWVUS is also reissuing a number of our most successful election publications, which Leagues can order and distribute locally. The 2006 VOTE! brochure is now available. See the ad on the outside back cover of this Voter. We are also reissuing the "5 Things You Need to Know on Election Day" palm card. Call 888-287-7424 for ordering information.

GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

Building on the successful first year program, the Open World Leadership Center is funding a second year of the League's Russian Civic Hosting Program. Five delegations of Russian visitors will arrive in September 2006. They will be hosted by five Leagues selected from 17 applications: the Leagues of Bartlesville, OK; Lane County, OR; Minneapolis, MN; Montclair, NJ; and Tyler, TX.

In addition, the Open World Leadership Center is funding the League's first year of the Ukrainian Civic Hosting Program. Five delegations will arrive in October 2006. The League hosts were selected from 17 applications and include the Leagues of: Ames, IA; Oak Park, IL; Rochester Metro, NY; San Luis Obispo, CA; and Washington County, AR.

In July, the second phase of the LWVEF project Kenyans Working Together for Good Governance took place. Zaida Arguedas, director of Global Democracy Programs, and League leaders Carol West, City Councilwoman of Tucson, AZ, and Ernestine Krehbiel, co-president of the LWV of Wichita Metro, KS, traveled to five towns and cities along the coast of Kenya. This phase of the program requires that League members from the host communities (Tucson and Wichita) travel to meet with the women they hosted and together organize workshops to share the ideals and goals of the program. Prior to this visit, Arguedas traveled to Zambia, at the request of the U.S. State Department, to deliver a 3 1/2 day workshop entitled "Women Make a Difference." Fifty-eight women candidates from six different political parties attended this workshop in anticipation of the elections to be held this fall.

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Fourteen Leagues have received grants to organize forums for The People Speak 2006 project. The theme is "Working Together with the World: What's in It for the U.S.?" The participants are the LWVs of Clemson Area, SC; Columbia, SC (in cooperation with the Leagues of Florence and Charleston Area, SC); Connecticut; Fairfax Area, VA; Lexington, KY; Maplewood/South Orange, NJ; Marion-Polk Counties, Salem, OR; Minnesota; Sacramento, CA; Santa Barbara, CA; South Bend, IN; and Tyler, TX.