102 years of engaging voters and defending democracy.
By Sharon Holbrook
Left to right: Frank Goforth, Joan Savitt, Anne Batzell, Susan Vodrey, Monica Gurbach, Annette Tucker Sutherland, Lynn Lilly, Erin Connell, Vicki Elder, Lynn Roth.
From the beginning, the League was staunchly nonpartisan, and it would not endorse any candidate. Instead, it would focus on growing the electorate and deeply studying the issues and sharing the results of those studies with voters.
Today, these twin legacies – increasing the number of voters and informing them of the issues – carry on in Shaker Heights. The League of Women Voters of Shaker Heights, which is part of the Greater Cleveland chapter, directs significant attention to voter registration. Volunteers attend public events, especially those that pertain to elections, and offer voter registration documents.
“We will help people understand the document, make sure that they fill it out correctly, and submit it to the Board of Elections. Or people can take them with them and mail them in themselves,” says Annette Tucker Sutherland, chair of the Shaker chapter. In addition, the League helps the public exercise voting rights by distributing information about registration deadlines, election dates, and how to get a vote-by-mail application. One way the League does this, in addition to online and in-person outreach, is by setting up “Voter Info Stations” at most of Shaker’s 20 Little Free Libraries and Little Free Pantries.
“We want everyone to exercise their right to vote regardless of political affiliation.”
The stations, which the League has run since 2020, include voter registration forms, vote-by-mail form , the League’s nonpartisan voter guides, and information on researching and casting the ballot. “It’s usef l for people with limited internet access, and also just as a prominent reminder about upcoming elections,” says Lynn Lilly, former co-chair of communications for the Shaker chapter. The goal is always more voters.
“We’re not here to pick a side, whether it’s Republican or Democrat or independent,” says Monica Gurbach, voter services chair for the Shaker chapter. “We want everyone to exercise their right to vote regardless of political affiliation.
That focus on voter access and the power of each vote is behind the League’s opposition to gerrymandering, too. The League was behind a statewide petition to put redistricting reform on the 2018 ballot, a measure which overwhelmingly passed.
“In Ohio, the issue of voter access has gotten very contentious,” says Sutherland. “But the League, back to its foundation, has always opposed gerrymandering. So if this were a Democratic state, and it was heavily Democratically gerrymandered, we would still be in opposition to gerrymandered districts.”
Understanding Issues
In keeping with its nonpartisan roots, the League still stays away from evaluating or recommending candidates. But the League does study issues and share the information with voters including information both for and against any proposed measure in order to make complete, balanced information available to voters. And the League will often take a position when it comes to issues on the ballot, after a detailed evaluation. Those topics might be a broad range of issues on the state level, or they might be local issues that affect only Shaker Heights – things such as a proposed change to the Shaker charter, a Library bond vote, or a school levy.
League of Women Voters of Shaker Heights chair Annette Sutherland (left) and voter services chair Monica Gurbach.
“When there’s an issue on the Shaker ballot, the League will have an ad hoc study committee that looks very carefully at the issue from every angle,” says Sutherland. “And then we will publish a report and vote on whether to endorse the issue.”
Another key way that the League helps to inform voters is through its Observer Corps. Observer Corps volunteers attend local government meetings as representatives of the public to ensure openness in government operations and to document the meetings.
The meetings covered by the League in Shaker Heights include the Shaker Heights City Council and its various committees, as well as the Shaker Heights Board of Education and Shaker Library Board of Trustees. Reports are available on the League of Women Voters Shaker Heights chapter’s website.
Reaching Out
Despite its name and history, men are welcome to join the League. Membership is typically $65 but operates on a sliding scale and is open to all who are age 16 and up. Members are invited to League meetings, receive regular communications, and are invited to volunteer with the League in whatever way works with their schedule.
“People can volunteer for an hour a year or an hour a day,” says Sutherland. Young people, including students not even old enough to vote, can become part of the League’s Student Corps of high school students who help at events, assist with voter registration, document government meetings, and dig into other projects. Students who want to take it to the next level can apply for the League’s Legacy Fellowship, in which a student is selected to commit to volunteering and learning over the course of a school year, at the end of which the student earns a $500 stipend. Applications are typically due each August.
No matter which way people participate, the League is always eager for more members and volunteers. “We’re always looking for new members to help work to defend democracy,” says Sutherland.
