On the following pages, you will find:
Redistricting/Gerrymandering
The 19th Amendment/The ERA
Campaign Finance/Money in Politics
Ranked Choice Voting
Voter Suppression
Leadership
Legislative Action
Natural Resources/The Environment
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Every 10 years, the country embarks on the massive task of determining population through the Census and redrawing voting districts. Congressional districts and government legislative bodies should be apportioned substantially on population. We oppose partisan and racial gerrymandering that strips rights away from voters.
Political and racial gerrymandering distorts and undermines representative democracy by allowing officials to select their voters rather than voters to elect their officials. When done for purposes of racial discrimination or to ensure the dominance of one political party, gerrymandering runs counter to equal voting rights for all eligible voters.
We promote transparent and accountable redistricting processes and to end hyper-partisan practices that don't benefit constituents. We believe responsibility for fair redistricting should be vested in an independent special commission, with membership that reflects the diversity of the unit of government. The League works in states across the country to pass ballot initiatives to institute independent redistricting commissions.
Attend meetings, send comments and/or draw your own maps. Check out the website: HTTPS://UIRC.UTAH.GOV/ and send comments to UIRCCOMMENTS@UTAH.GOV. Know who are you current State representatives and write or call them to support the work of the Independent Redistricting Commission. Work to get the For the People’s Act and Fair Representation Act passed in the U.S. Congress.
Information from website of LWVUTAH.org.
Passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 marked the culmination of the united work of numerous and diverse women’s organizations. In Utah, Gov. Simon Bamberger called the Legislature into special session in the summer of 1919 to ratify the amendment and signed it into law in October.
The next month, November 1919, Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, visited Utah to celebrate this local continuing victory and to organize a Utah unit of the National League of Women Voters, the designated successor of the NAWSA. Utah’s “Suffrage Council was drafted almost in its entirety into the Utah League of Women Voters.” Susa Young Gates represented Utah at the National League’s first convention held in Chicago the following February upon the centennial of the birth of Susan B. Anthony, when ratification of the 19th Amendment was virtually assured. Before adopting a plan of educational work centered on child welfare, public health, and social improvement, the League honored living pioneer suffragists from each state, including Emmeline B. Wells, Emily S. Richards, and Gates herself from Utah.
Neither the Utah League of Women Voters nor the National League drew the full participation of those who had worked for suffrage. In 1925, the membership of the Utah League was still small, only 43. After a decade of active service, it went into a period of decline until it was revived in 1952. Since that time, it has remained a significant part of social awareness in Utah.
Catt had been adamant that women join the national parties rather than forming a separate women’s party, and the League from its beginning focused on issues and candidates rather than lobbying for a separate women’s platform.
The insistence of new feminists that women reopen the discussion of their rights, particularly biological and economic rights, revealed the disparity of women’s opinions on those issues. Neither the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment nor the legalization of abortion was an exclusively legal question. Both were discussed in terms of their ramifications for women’s lives in the private sphere as well as in the public sphere, and rarely was that discussion successfully separated from the perennial question: What is woman’s role?
Profound disagreement surrounding that question emotionally charged the atmosphere in which women discussed their concerns and developed support networks. A radical anti-male faction of the movement successfully disrupted conferences, won publicity, and polarized positions. Traditionalists recoiled, sometimes overreacting. One bizarre manifestation was the name selected by some Utah women who united in opposition to the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment: Humanitarians Opposed to Degrading Our Girls (HOTDOG).
The concerns of Utah women reflected worldwide debate and discussion. The United Nations created a commission on the status of the women of the world in 1972 and proclaimed 1975 the “International Women’s Year.” Members of the coordinating committee, who had hoped to have two thousand women attend, were not prepared for the nearly fourteen thousand women who ultimately registered at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City to attend “The Voice of Womankind: Utah’s First State-Wide Women’s Meeting on 24–25 June.” The convention was the largest in the nation with more than twice the attendance at any of the other state meetings. And it was one of the most contentious, split largely along religious lines.
Members of the coordinating committee, who had hoped to have two thousand women attend, were not prepared for the nearly fourteen thousand women who ultimately registered at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City to attend “The Voice of Womankind: Utah’s First State-Wide Women’s Meeting on 24–25 June.” The convention was the largest in the nation with more than twice the attendance at any of the other state meetings. And it was one of the most contentious, split largely along religious lines.
Utah’s Legislature has still declined to consider the Equal Rights Amendment, proposed in almost every session.
join the League as we rally and lobby for equal rights. Help us register voters and encourage candidates to reach out to their constituents via Vote411.org. And learn about our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Information from website of LWVUTAH.org.
The LWV of Utah created a Natural Resources position on its board in 2019. Since then, members of the NR team have worked on the Utah's Transition to Clean Energy educational study completed in 2020 (available at www.lwvutah.org), presented the findings of the study to several unit and general meetings, and provided copies of the study to some members of the Legislature.
In addition, NR advocates have participated in the Legislative Action Committee by attending and reporting on committees considering NR bills. Carole Straughn testified on behalf of the League supporting a carbon tax bill, HB 304 in 2019. A Natural Resources webpage has been created and an Earth Day page was added in 2021 suggesting activities and references for sustainability. We have several dedicated League members who follow specific environmental issues such as the Wasatch Canyons, the Inland Port, and the Great Salt Lake. On Sept. 30, 2021, the LWVUT is sponsoring a panel discussion on water issues that are becoming more critical due to climate change.
Join the Natural Resources Committee. Learn about the issues and monitor the Legislature virtually or in person. Be the solution before there is a problem. Email the office to join.
Information from website of LWVUTAH.ORG.
A core group of dedicated League members monitor and lobby the Utah Legislature every year because legislative advocacy is a cornerstone of the League of Women Voters.
League advocacy is based on member study and agreement on selected issues and involves concerted efforts to achieve public policies consistent with League positions. League advocacy promotes or opposes specific pieces of legislation. We then use them to prioritize and track specific bills during the regular and interim sessions.
Join the Legislative Action Committee. Learn about the issues and monitor the Legislature virtually or in person. Read The Ten Minute Activist - a quick guide to the best way to provide your option. The League provides on-site training to interested community groups using the Ten Minute Activist presentation. Email the co-directors at legislativeaction@lwvutah.org
Information from website of LWVUTAH.org.
We’re taking a look back through our own organization’s history to highlight some of our most prominent members. Each of them made great strides toward a more perfect democracy, both in their League work and in their own political work. Their accomplishments inspire us to continue toward the same goal. The League is proud to call these exceptional women fellow members and sisters in the movement. We continue to work for increased representation for women at all levels of government. We believe now, as ever, in the power of all women to create a more perfect democracy.
Join us. Democracy is on the line. Start with us and you, too, can be a leader.
Information from website of LWVUTAH.org.
We are at the forefront of the most important federal and state voting rights cases around the country. We actively oppose discriminatory voter photo ID laws, fight against attacks against the voter registration process, and hold lawmakers accountable when they try to institute last-minute Election Day barriers. We work year-round to combat voter suppression through advocacy, grassroots organizing, legal action and public education. Our efforts have resulted in the protection of voting rights and ballot access for millions of Americans.
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote, a right known as women’s suffrage, and was ratified on August 18, 1920, ending almost a century of protest. In 1848, the movement for women’s rights launched on a national level with the Seneca Falls Convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Following the convention, the demand for the vote became a centerpiece of the women’s rights movement. Stanton and Mott, along with Susan B. Anthony and other activists, raised public awareness and lobbied the government to grant voting rights to women. After a lengthy battle, these groups finally emerged victorious with the passage of the 19th Amendment.
https://www.history.com/topics/womens-rights/seneca-falls-convention
We promote transparent and accountable redistricting processes and to end hyper-partisan practices that don't benefit constituents. We believe responsibility for fair redistricting should be vested in an independent special commission, with membership that reflects the diversity of the unit of government. The League works in states across the country to pass ballot initiatives to institute independent redistricting commissions.
The Independent Redistricting Commission has been formed. Here is what you can do: Attend their meetings, participate in drawing the maps, know who are you current State representatives and write or call them to support the work of the Independent Redistricting Commission. Work to get the For the People’s Act and Fair Representation Act passed in the US Congress.
Information from website of LWVUTAH.org.
Ranked Choice Voting promotes majority support, discourages negative campaigning, provides more choices for the voters, saves money when replacing preliminaries or runoffs, promotes reflective representation, minimizes strategic voting and more. In Utah, 23 municipalities have opted in to RCV for the upcoming election. New York and Maine have successfully run RCV campaigns, and many other states are using it now. The League views RCV as an exciting new voting method that gives voters true choices without the spoiler effect.
The election is around the corner. If your district is using RCV, just know that ranking candidates gives your vote more power. Read the League studies on voting methods and get involved in future research on the subject..You can learn more about RCV and what’s coming on your ballot here.
Learn more from our website LWVUTAH.ORG.
League members at the local, state and national level have been concerned about the effect of money in politics. The League at the national level adopted this position in 2016
The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that the methods of financing political campaigns should: Enhance political equality for all citizens; ensure maximum participation by citizens in the political process; protect representative democracy from being distorted by big spending in election campaigns; provide voters sufficient information about candidates and campaign issues to make informed choices; ensure transparency and the public’s right to know who is using money to influence elections; enable candidates to compete equitably for public office; ensure that candidates have sufficient funds to communicate their messages to the public; and combat corruption and undue influence in government
To achieve the goals for campaign finance regulation, the League supports: Public financing of elections, either voluntary or mandatory, in which candidates must abide by reasonable spending limits; enhanced enforcement of campaign finance laws that includes changes to ensure that regulatory agencies are properly funded, staffed, and structured to avoid partisan deadlock in the decision-making process; abolishing Super PACs and abolishing spending coordinated or directed by candidates (other than a candidate’s own campaign committee); and restrictions on direct donations and bundling by lobbyists, which may include monetary limits as well as other regulations.Until full public financing of elections is enacted, limits on election spending are needed in order to meet the League’s goals for protecting democratic processes.
Among the different entities that spend money to influence elections, the League supports the following comparative limits
:•Higher spending limits for political parties, genuinely nonpartisan voter registration and get- out-the-vote organizations and activities, and candidates spending money raised from contributors.
•Mid-level spending limits for individual citizens (including wealthy individuals), Political Action Committees (with funds contributed by individuals associated with the sponsoring organization, such as employees, stockholders, members, and volunteers), and candidates spending their own money.
•Lower spending limits for trade associations, labor unions and nonprofit organizations from their general treasury funds.
•Severely restricted spending by for-profit organizations spending from their corporate treasury funds.•
No limits on spending by bona fide newspapers, television, and other media, including the internet, except to address partisan abuse or use of the media to evade campaign finance regulations.
Before that 2016 statement Leagues at all levels had studied campaign finance.
In the 1990s the Salt Lake LWV studied campaign financing of the municipal elections and worked on public financing of the mayor and city Council elections. The public financing proposal failed but a law limiting the maximum contributions to mayoral and city council candidates was enacted. This law allowed a maximum personal contribution of $7500 to mayor and $1500 to city council members. These limits are adjusted in campaign years to reflect cost of living changes using the Consumer Price Index.
In the fall of 2015, Move to Amend, a Salt Lake group working on campaign finance, approached the League to join an effort to reduce the maximum individual contribution to mayoral and council candidates to $500 and to ban contributions from corporations. League members lobbied the mayor and council members vigorously. At the last meeting of 2015 City Council and after the 2015 mayoral election, the council reduced the maximum contribution to mayoral candidates to $3500 and council candidates to $750. These limits apply to individuals, corporations, nonprofits and unions. The law also banned contributions from individuals or companies doing business with City Hall. Salt Lake City has no law concerning contributions from PACS (political action committees) or Super PACS.
The state of Utah has no limits on campaign contributions. Attempts to enact limits in the Legislature have always failed.
There is still work to be done, not only in Salt Lake City but around the county, as well. Join one of the League studies to dig deeper into the issue. You may also want to join the Observer Corps, a group of dedicated members who attend and report back on municipal and county governments.
Information from website of LWVUTAH.org.