Civics Education and LWV

In the wake of the insurrection at the nation’s capitol, we have seen many editorials across the country calling for basic civics education. The League of Women Voters has as its mission the creation of informed citizens who participate in their government. Our education programs are targeted at people of all ages, helping them understand their voting rights, the way our many levels of government operate, the ways they can influence government policies, the issues facing our democracy.

Our Take Me To Vote (TMTV) Program encourages 5th graders to accompany adults to the polls, and also rewards them with an opportunity to speak with their assembly member. This year it morphed to a virtual program, Teach Me To Vote, with a marvelous film for 5th graders written by our director of the TMTV program, Suzanne Bishop, and starring Linda McKenney as Susan B. Anthony.

First Vote reaches out to High School seniors with information and the resources to register to vote. Every year LWVSC sends two students to LWVNY’s Students Inside Albany – where students learn how state government functions and get to shadow one of their representatives for a day. Also targeted at high school students, LWVNY, in collaboration with the NYS Social Studies Supervisory Association, has developed seven lesson plans for teachers of Participation in Government. LWVSC put on a workshop for area Social Studies Teachers introducing them to the lesson plans and to information about our county governments.

LWVSC sent Tom Bryson, one of the workshop’s participants, to a course on The Harvard Case Study Method. His students in Schuylerville are the beneficiaries of this training. Late this spring, Tom will be offering a workshop for the League (and the public) using one of the case studies he developed in the course.

Barbara Thomas
1/17/2021

Call for Immediate Removal of President Trump

League of Women Voters of the United States Calls for Immediate Removal of President Donald Trump

1/8/2021

WASHINGTON – Thursday night, the League of Women Voters board of directors met and voted unanimously to call for the immediate removal of Donald J. Trump from the office of the President of the United States of America via any legal means, including and in order of preference: impeachment with disqualification, the invocation of the 25th amendment, or resignation. Today, the League of Women Voters board of directors issued the following statement:

“Donald Trump must be immediately removed as President of the United States of America and banned from running for federal office ever again.

“The sitting president was the instigator of Wednesday’s domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol that left five Americans dead and many more injured. He commanded an army of insurrectionists to forcefully overturn our free and fair elections in an effort to maintain power. These are the actions of a tyrannical despot, and they are in direct opposition to American democracy. President Trump continues to present a clear threat to national security as well as the safety and security of the American public.

“For violating his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, Donald Trump must immediately resign or be removed from office by any measure possible in accordance with the law. Removing President Trump from the office of the president and swearing in Vice President Mike Pence to fulfill the duration of this presidential term will ensure our Constitution is maintained and upheld.

“The League of Women Voters calls on both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to immediately impeach President Trump with disqualification and remove him from office. Should Congress fail to impeach him, we call on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Trump from office immediately.”

Dark Day in Our History

This is a dark day in our history. Today should have been a procedural exercise to finalize the 2020 election. Instead, our nation's Capitol is under siege by domestic terrorists bent on violently invalidating the will of the people.

President Trump should concede that the election is over and call for his supporters to stand down, respect the certification process and support a peaceful inauguration on January 20th.

League of Women Voters of the U.S. 1/6/2021

Reviewing Community Policing

Reviewing Community Policing in the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department

On June 12 of this year, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an Executive Order (# 203) requiring all Police Departments within NYS, in response to the public outcry over the deaths of people of color at the hands of the police (think Eric Garner, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, etc.) to examine their practices, policies, and deployment strategies, and present a plan to assure that their policing was not biased. The plan was to be reviewed and approved by stakeholders, and submitted to NYS by April 1, 2021. Failure to submit a plan would mean they were not eligible for state or federal funding. Here’s a link to the Executive Order and its requirements.

It took Preston Allen, chair of the Board of Supervisors, until October to appoint a committee, which had its organizational meeting on October 27. The makeup of the committee has been criticized because it contains only County officials and not community stakeholders. The minutes of the committee are available on the county’s website through a link on the home page. But it isn’t easy to find unless you happen to know that “Éxecutive Order 203 Compliance Group” is in actuality the Police Review committee that was required in response to the Black Live Matter demonstrations and the executive order.

The committee says that it wants public input, and has developed a survey that it asks community members to complete. Supervisor Gaston and Round Lake Mayor Putman both commented that the reading level of the survey is at the college level, and that the survey is long and detailed. I did take the survey today – it takes about a half an hour, and is focused on policies. In my answers I pointed out that policies that seem unbiased are fine, but have to be monitored for compliance. I urge you to complete the survey, and also encourage members of groups who feel that they have been targeted by the police to complete the survey. Here’s the survey link.
Barbara Thomas

Kudos! Congratulations! and Thanks!

The League of Women Voters of Saratoga County received many comments this election season. Here is a sampling of the things folks said:

“Thanks to all the voters who exercised their right to vote in a calm, respectful way, and then waited patiently for the results. That shows their faith in democracy.”

“I want to congratulate the LWV. I don’t know the county numbers but nationally, we had historic voter turn-out. Awesome!!!”

“I was so pleased that the violence and intimidation that was forecast, was actually not very evident on election day.”

“Thank you for registering voters, providing valuable information to confused voters. All this during a pandemic, hot days, wind that threatened to take down the tent, and very chilly days.”

“Thanks to all the League members who helped register voters, and gave out accurate information about the technicalities of voting, who compiled the information on Vote411, staffed and organized candidate forums and generally made the voting process better.”

“Thanks to all the poll workers and to our Saratoga County Board of Elections. They did a fantastic job of coping with the early voting turnout.”

“This month, we recognize incredible organizations who uplift the people of this nation with core AoCC [Americans of Conscience Checklist] values: Respect, Heart, Gratitude, Inclusion, Empathy, Truth, and Solidarity. #30DaysofThanks. … Thank you for your commitment to informing and empowers voters through Vote411”