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The purpose of the League of Women Voters is to promote informed and active participation of citizens in their government through education and advocacy. The League is nonpartisan in that it does not support or oppose any political party or candidate; it is political in that it takes positions on selected public issues after member study and agreement. Our membership includes both men and women.
Learn more. League of Women Voters of Florida League of Women Voters of the United States Handbook of LWV of The Villages / Tri-County Area By-Laws of LWV of The Villages / Tri-County Area Adopted Program for LWV of The Villages/ Tri-County Area |
Our Mission & Roles
The League of Women Voters encourages informed and active participation in government. It influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League of Women Voters has two separate and distinct roles.
- Voters Service/Citizen Education: We present unbiased nonpartisan information about elections, the voting process, and issues.
- Action/Advocacy: We are also nonpartisan, but, after study and consensus by the members, we use our positions to advocate for or against particular policies in the public interest.
What We Do
We are REACTIVE. When Hurricane Matthew was bearing down on our state, Gov. Scott did not see any need to extend voter registration dates. Pam Goodman, State President contacted a lawyer and in less than a week the deadline was extended. Hurricane Irma hit in the middle of the primary season. Miami Dade local chapter worked with their County Commissioners to establish procedures to ensure voters were given the opportunity to vote despite the hurricane evacuation
We are PROACTIVE. The State League is in litigation regarding the appointment of Florida Supreme Court justices when a vacancy exists because of mandatory retirement. Three justices will retire on the same day that our next governor is sworn into office. Oral arguments are November 1, 2017 for our case which asks that the new governor appoint justices on his first day in office, rather than the outgoing governor on his last day.
We are AWARE: The State League has filed a friend of the court brief on the side of the city of Cape Coral. The city’s ordinance banning plastic bags has been struck down by the state legislature. A case of “home rule,” which will set a preceden,t makes this more than a plastic bag case and the state league is speaking out in favor of home rule.
We are PROACTIVE. The State League is in litigation regarding the appointment of Florida Supreme Court justices when a vacancy exists because of mandatory retirement. Three justices will retire on the same day that our next governor is sworn into office. Oral arguments are November 1, 2017 for our case which asks that the new governor appoint justices on his first day in office, rather than the outgoing governor on his last day.
We are AWARE: The State League has filed a friend of the court brief on the side of the city of Cape Coral. The city’s ordinance banning plastic bags has been struck down by the state legislature. A case of “home rule,” which will set a preceden,t makes this more than a plastic bag case and the state league is speaking out in favor of home rule.
Our History
In her address to the National American Women's Suffrage Association's (NAWSA) 50th convention in St. Louis, Missouri, President Carrie Chapman Catt proposed the creation of a "league of women voters to finish the fight and aid in the reconstruction of the nation." Women Voters was formed within the NAWSA, composed of the organizations in the states where suffrage had already been attained. The next year, on February 14, 1920 - six months before the 19th amendment to the Constitution was ratified - the League was formally organized in Chicago as the national League of Women Voters. Men were accepted into the League in 1972.