LWV-Wake Update 7/24/2023

Dear ~~first_name~~,

Greetings from LWV-Wake.

We are one month away from our biggest event of the year.....Women's Equality Day! Please consider purchasing a sponsorship and attending this event. Funds raised provide much needed support.

Guest speaker Nora El-Khouri Spencer, will speak about how, through her company Hope Renovations, women become inspired and empowered to learn valuable trade skills to better support themselves.

Spencer recently spoke to WRAL about expanding to Wake County! You can listen to her interview here. Scroll down to purchase your sponsorship and support LWV-Wake as we prepare to educate voters for 2024 elections.

We need volunteers to assist with Women's Equality Day. This even takes many volunteers to set up and decorate tables, serve food and beverages, and help with clean up. If you are planning to attend, please consider lending a helping hand. Volunteer sign-ups are listed on our website under the "Volunteering" tab. Please remember to sign in to access volunteer opportunities.

LWV-Wake Healthcare Committee hosts NC Senator Gale Adcock - July 25th 3pm

Join fellow Leaguers from around NC for an engaging discussion as Senator Adcock summarizes critical healthcare legislation. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and learn what is expected in this and future legislative sessions. You can register by scrolling to Events below.

Wake County Board of Elections - July 25th 3pm

Wake County BOE will meet on July 25th at 3pm to select early voting sites for the 2024 primary election. If you can attend and observe, please complete an observation form here. A schedule of upcoming Wake County Board of Elections can be found below:

WC Board of Elections Calendar

LWV-Wake Day at NC Courage Women's Soccer

Through a partnership with NC Courage, we are able to offer our members discounted tickets to the August 27th game against the Chicago Red Stars. We will also be providing voter outreach prior to and during the first half of the game in the FanFest area of the soccer park. Volunteers are needed for tabling at this event. For more information and to purchase tickets, scroll to Events.

Renew Your LWV-Wake Membership

For members who joined prior to 2020, your membership expired on June 30th. Yikes!! If you renewed, THANK YOU! If you have not, please renew now to continue your membership and support LWV-Wake.

Expired members who do not renew by July 30 will no longer receive these League Updates. Double Yikes!! Not to worry, you can easily renew online as we now take credit cards without using Paypal. If you are not sure if you need to renew, click on our website below. If your membership expired on June 30th, you will see a pop up box prompting you to renew your membership.

lwvwake.org

Please support LWV-Wake by purchasing a sponsorship!

One of the best way's to support LWV-Wake is by purchasing a sponsorship. Funds raised provide us with the operating support we need to create and provide programs, communicate with members and keep our organization compliant. While we can (and do) seek grant funding, much of what is available is restricted to specific types of activities. Operating expenses include:

Technology subscriptions - for financial reporting, to maintain websites, create and schedule social media posts, analytics, Zoom, etc.
Rent
Office internet for board and committee meetings
GOTV activities
Intern stipends
Youth outreach materials (ex. Voter Girl Project, college visits)
Supplies (paper, printer ink, signs, banners, tabling)
Specialized contractor work (videographers, communications help, etc.)
Reserve funding for future part-time administrative help

As a sponsor, you receive extra benefits! Please click below to see a description of sponsorship levels.

WOMENS EQUALITY DAY SPONSORSHIPS

Upcoming LWV-Wake Events

July 25th - Healthcare Committee welcomes Senator Gale Adcock -Learn what's happening with healthcare legislation at the NCGA. There will be time for questions and the regular Healthcare monthly meeting will follow. To register, click here.

September 20th 5:30pm - Timely Topics: Reproductive Rights & Abortion - Join us for our first Timely Topics program of the season. This event will feature guest panelists Dr. Beverly Gray of Duke Obstetrics & Gynecology and Tara Romano, Executive Director of Pro-Choice NC. Register here.

October 19th 12noon-1:30pm - Timely Topics: Amendment 5 and the Threat to the US Constitution - Join us IN PERSON at Highland Methodist Church as we welcome guest speaker Dennis Burns, chairman of the State Advisory Board for Common Cause NC. For more details and to register, click here.

LWV-Wake Day at NC Courage Women's Soccer

Sunday, August 27th 2pm

Join other Leaguers as we cheer the NC Courage professional women's soccer team! Through a partnership with NC Courage, we are able to offer our members and friends discounted tickets to the August 27th game against the Chicago Red Stars.

Tickets can be purchased by anyone using the special League discounted ticket link so be sure to share this link with friends. We hope to get a group of members to attend for an afternoon of fun.

LWV-Wake will be providing voter outreach (tabling) from an hour prior to kick off through the end of half time in their Fanfest area. We will distribute VOTE411 and election materials. Please see volunteer opportunities on our website for this event. To learn more about this event and to purchase tickets, click on the link below.

LWV-Wake day at NC Courage Women's Soccer - 8/27/2023

NCGA Legislative Update

There is still no budget as we enter the second month of the new fiscal year.

Here VETO Again!

As expected, Governor Cooper vetoed House Bill 219 Charter Schools Omnibus on Friday. Among other changes, this bill would allow charter schools to seek taxpayer funding for construction purposes and remove enrollment caps for underperforming charter schools. You can read more from WRAL here.

If you are keeping track, this is the 14th veto from Governor Cooper this year. Eight have been overridden and 6 are awaiting override votes.

UPDATE: Election/Anti-Voting Bills

SB 747 and SB 749 passed the NC Senate and were referred to the House on June 22. Rep. Moore told WRAL that he expects the bills to be heard in the House during the week of August 7th.

On July 12th, Thirty two members of the Election Boards Association of North Carolina, split evenly among Republicans and Democrats, sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to meet with county elections officials about potential election law changes found in SB 747 and SB 749. In the letter, officials warn “some of the current proposals, if implemented, may have unintended consequences that can harm rather than protect the integrity of our elections.” Read more here (Cardinal & Pine) and here (N&O, may be paywalled).

ICYMI: N&O Opinion

An opinion piece submitted by LWVNC president Jennifer Rubin was published in the N&O on July 13th. In the article, Rubin describes voter confusion that will lead to distrust should SB 747 legislation become law. Read excerpts from lwvnc.org here.

Voter ID Update

On July 17th, the State Board of Elections approved 99 student and employee identification cards North Carolina for use in the 2023 municipal elections and 2024 primary and general elections in North Carolina. You can see the list here.

NC Board of Elections approved a Photo ID Exemption Form at their June 27th meeting. This form will be provided to voters who do not present an ID when requesting a ballot. There is also a version for absentee voters.

In addition, the board voted to implement two temporary rules for the implementation of the photo ID requirement for in-person and absentee voting. Read more here.

For a list of 21 voting rights bills being tracked, check out the Voting Rights Lab Bill Tracker here.

Please note: This list does not include all bills for which the League may take a position or that may be important for advocacy. To see a description of bills filed each day, see the UNC School of Government Legislative Reporting Service Daily Bulletin Online here.

League Advocacy

Encouraging effective advocacy on issues that align with our mission of Empowering Voters and Defending Democracy is the heart of what we do. And while we can send emails and provide public comment, we must also advocate to our family, friends and neighbors, social groups, etc. and encourage them to contact their representatives as well.

Find your representatives here.

Find 2023-2024 NC House Leaders here.

Find 2023-2024 NC Senate Leaders here.

Looking for information from a past newsletter? Previous League Updates can now be viewed on our website's home page. Look for the "League Updates" blue tab on the top menu.

Thank you for continuing to support the League of Women Voters of Wake County.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Tung

President

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The League of Women Voters of Wake County is a designated 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization by the IRS. Donations and membership dues are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

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LWV-Wake Update 7/24/2023