NAACP’s JUNETEENTH 2023 CELEBRATION
Saturday, June 17 @ 11:00-4:00
River Park Community Center
On June 17th, the LWV will join the NAACP’s Juneteenth 2023 celebration at River Park Community Center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Click the preliminary flyer below for more information about the event. We will be registering voters, promoting the petitions described below, and sharing information on other League priority issues. For more information contact our coordinator Tina Palmese. We are counting on members of the VS committee as last year. |  |
FEEL LIKE MAKING GOOD TROUBLE IN SWFL?
Join the LWVCC at the John Lewis “Make Good Trouble” Votercade in Ft. Myers!
Wednesday, June 21, 2023 @ 11:30am-2:30pm
Quality of Life Center
3210 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd, Fort Myers, FL, 33916
Photo Source: CNN
The John Lewis Votercade concept was designed by the Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) to raise local community awareness about the issues and encourage citizen participation. TJC has taken Votercades to over 200 communities in multiple states throughout the nation to lift awareness and knowledge about elections and voting. In every community where TJC has held a Votercade, voter participation has increased significantly. The Votercade concept is based upon having fun and bringing the community together to learn. The event is being organized by the NAACP and Transformative Justice Coalition.
LWV Florida is partnering to host the “make good trouble” bus tour.
The LWV of Lee County has asked for our assistance at their booth for distributing League info and petitions. We will be collecting signatures for petitions on our rights to Clean Water and Reproductive Choice. We will be mobilizing voter registration and sharing information on returning citizens resources. This is a rare opportunity to team up with LWV Lee. Volunteer and join us! If you can help, please contact Alison Wescott or Tina Palmese. We hope to see you in Ft. Myers to continue our celebration of Juneteenth on June 21st at the John Lewis Make Good Trouble Votercade! There will be car-pooling available and the event is free!
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT
| LIMITING GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE
|  Do you believe that politicians should make decisions regarding women’s medical care? The League believes in the power of women to create a more perfect democracy, and we believe protection for reproductive health decisions is a democracy issue. Without the ability to make reproductive decisions for one’s own body, women cannot participate equally in our democracy. This harm will exacerbate societal inequalities and fall disproportionately on people of color and low-income communities already facing egregious obstacles to health care.
Throughout Florida, citizens are gathering signatures to place a Constitutional Amendment on the November 5, 2024 General Ballot that would ensure Floridian’s reproductive freedom is codified into law and allows Floridians to make personal medical decisions without government interference. The Amendment Ballot Summary states, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”
Based on the right to privacy guaranteed in the Florida Constitution, if you believe reproductive decisions should be determined by patients and their healthcare providers, download the Constitutional Amendment Petition Form. Be sure to use the same name you use to vote. Add your address, city, zip, County, and Date of Birth. Add your signature, date signed, and deliver it to the locked mailbox at 6340 Napa Woods Way, 34116 or mail the completed Petition Form back to Floridians Protecting Freedom, Inc., PO Box 4068, Sarasota, FL 34230.
Each petition needs to be filled out carefully and fully by a person registered to vote in Florida. The signature should match what is used for elections.
For questions, Janet Hoffman will be a Point Person.
|  | 2023 LWVFL CONVENTION OVERVIEW
At the 2023 LWVFL Convention in Orlando, the LWVCC was well represented by 9 committed delegates and was one of the larger delegations at Convention. From June 2nd to 3rd, Cynthia Cave, Janet Hoffman, Arthur Kirsch, Suzanne Low, Denise McLaughlin, Charlotte Nycklemoe, Diane Preston Moore, Pat Plummer, and Diana Walsh attended informational workshops, participated in spirited debate, and connected with League members from counties throughout Florida. Suzanne Low played a key role in informing delegates about the National Popular Vote, and Pat, Diana and Diane presented a workshop on the League Leadership Program which was enthusiastically received by the delegates and by the new LWVFL Board. A new LWVFL Board was elected, including Co-Presidents Cecile Scoon (Bay County) and Debbie Chandler (Palm Beach County), and our local League is well represented at the state level! See the related article about our own League members who now have a leadership role with LWVFL. Delegates voted on 14 motions to amend the LWVFL Bylaws, addressing 4 main areas of concern: (1) Conforming the LWVFL Bylaws to LWVUS Bylaws (to include DEI statement and revise the “LWVFL” abbreviation, among other changes); (2) addressing LWVFL board member and leadership qualifications & continuity of leadership (especially staggered terms and elections of board members); (3) addressing board operations; (4) changing fiscal year for LWVFL to begin on July 1st instead of April 1; (5) and revising the delegate allotments for Council. Thanks to Charlotte for her hard work on the Bylaws Committee in crafting these positive amendments. View the Bylaws Committee Report with explanations of the need for these amendments. Because the start of the fiscal year was changed from April 1 to July 1, the delegation passed 2 new budgets – one from April 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023 and one from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 – for each of the Education Fund and the Advocacy Fund. The delegation also voted to amend the LWVFL Program, available here. The LWVCC should be proud of its delegates who zealously represented our League at Convention in a professional and thoughtful manner. Look for further information about what happened at Convention from LWVFL in the weeks ahead. | LWVCC MEMBERS SERVING LWVFL
 Congratulations to 4 of our LWVCC members who are leaders within LWVFL! During the 2023 Convention on June 2nd and 3rd, Pat Plummer was elected to the LWVFL Board of Directors, and Diana Walsh is now on the LWVFL Nominating Committee. Before and during Convention, Charlotte Nycklemoe served on the Bylaws Committee, which recommended changes to bring the Bylaws up to date (see related article for more information on the Bylaws amendments), and Denise McLaughlin served on the Budget Committee, which approved the budgets for the LWVFL Education Fund and the LWVFL Advocacy Fund. We owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to these 4 League leaders for their willingness to serve the League not only at the local level, but also at the state level! |
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
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June 17 @ 11:00-4:00
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NAACP Juneteenth Celebration
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June 21 @ 11:30-2:30
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John Lewis Votercade
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| ONLINE REIMBURSEMENT FORM IS NOW AVAILABLE
Board members, committee chairs, and others who need to submit reimbursement requests can now do so via our Submit Online Forms page. | UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Because LWVCC committee meetings are for members and their invited guests unless stated otherwise,
members should log in to the website to register
to get the Zoom links for committee meetings and other events. | DEI Committee
June 28
Time and place TBD
| MISSED AN ISSUE OF THE VOTER?
NEED TO CATCH UP ON THE NEWS?
Check out our updated News & Newsletters page, which has all our latest news and links to current and back issues of The Voter and The LWVCC Update.
| Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in Government. We influence public policy through education and advocacy. Our goal is to empower citizens to take an active role in shaping better communities worldwide. The League of Women Voters of Collier County does not support or endorse any candidate or political party.
| League of Women Voters of Collier County
P.O. Box 9883Naples, FL 34101
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