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THE VOTER BLOG

  • 17 Sep 2014 10:33 AM | Deleted user
    The Ramsey County Elections Office will be open to all voters who wish to vote early in‐person for the 2014 state general election on the following schedule.

    September 19 ‐ October 24 (Monday – Friday) 8:00am to 4:30pm

    Saturday, October 25 8:00am to 1:00pm

    Monday, October 27 through Thursday, October 30 8:00am to 7:00pm

    Friday, October 31 8:00am to 4:30pm

    Saturday, November 1 8:00am to 3:00pm

    Sunday, November 2 10:00am to 2:00pm

    Monday, November 3 8:00am to 5:00pm

     

    Voters in suburban Ramsey County (except Falcon Heights) may also vote early in‐person at their city or town halls. Please contact your city or town for specific dates and hours.

  • 12 Sep 2014 10:30 AM | Deleted user

    The Met Council’s Housing Policy Plan will support the Council’s Thrive MSP 2040 , the Council’s regional development guide. Designed to assist local communities and advance regional housing goals, the Plan will establish the Council’s broad housing policy direction for the coming decades. Housing investment and disinvestment have a critical impact on the vitality of the region, its cities, its neighborhoods, and its households and families. The Plan will focus on promoting housing options that give people in all life stages and of all economic means viable choices for safe, stable and affordable homes.

    The Metropolitan Council released the draft for comment in July 2014 and is holding a public hearing on the Housing Policy Plan.

    The public hearing on the 2040 Housing Policy Plan will be held

    Monday, September 15, 2014 at 5 p.m.
    Metropolitan Council Chambers
    390 Robert Street North
    Saint Paul, MN 55101


    All interested persons are encouraged to attend the public hearing. Upon request, the Metropolitan Council will provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities (advance notice of any specific accommodations you may need is appreciated).

    Comment by 5 p.m. September 26

    You can comment on the plan through 5 p.m. Friday, September 26, 2014 via

    • Mail: Metropolitan Council, 390 Robert Street North, Saint Paul, MN 55101
    • TTY: 651-291-0904
    • Email: public.info@metc.state.mn.us
    • Record on our Public Comment Line 651-602-1500
    • Share via Your Ideas website http://yourideas.metrocouncil.org/ideas
    • Speak at the public hearing on Monday, September 15, 2014 at 5 p.m. Register in advance by calling 651-602-1500.

    The DRAFT 2040 Housing Policy Plan can be found here.

    Here is a newsletter article about the DRAFT 2040 Housing Policy Plan. This article contains great background information about the plan.

  • 10 Sep 2014 11:40 AM | Deleted user
    Mark your calendars for the Secretary of State Candidate forum!
    Date: Tuesday, October 28th
    Time: 7-9 PM
    Location: Augsburg College Chapel
    The Voter Service Team is seeking members to volunteer at the forum. Specifically, we need:
    Timers: Keep the Candidates to their allotted response time.
    Question Screeners: Get trained on what constitutes a good question and join the committee to screen audience questions for the moderator.
    Sign-in: We are expecting several hundred in attendance and are seeking friendly faces to collect sign-in information
    We would like the members who attend to act as hosts, mingling and visiting with the hundreds of expected audience members, and to also represent your local LWV at this event.
    Additional volunteer opportunities exist; please let Liz Haan know of your interest at vote@lwvmn.org
  • 10 Sep 2014 11:25 AM | Deleted user

    September 20th 10:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Neighborhoods Organizing for Change or Hope Lutheran Church


    The Restore the Vote Minnesota campaign will be hosting a rally and door knock on Saturday, Sept 20th in Minneapolis and St. Paul to talk with community members about this campaign.
    Every fall, Americans have the opportunity to exercise one of our must fundamental and sacred rights, the right to vote. This is a right that so many of us hold in high esteem. We proudly display I voted stickers and praise Minnesota’s high voter turnout. However, a day which so many of us look forward to is a day of exclusion and silencing for over 63,000 Minnesotans who have been convicted of a felony. In Minnesota, we disenfranchise over 50,000 of these Minnesotans even after they have left prison or jail and are living in our communities, and a disproportionate number are people of color. The Restore the Vote MN campaign wants to change the law so as soon as someone is released from prison or jail they are eligible to vote.

    Join the campaign to knock doors in North Minneapolis and on the East side of St. Paul to talk with voters about restoring the vote, ask them to fill out action post cards (which will be sent to their legislators and the Governor), and to register people to vote.

    More information can be found here.

  • 24 Aug 2014 9:14 PM | Deleted user
    About the Shur Fellows

    The Ruth S. Shur Fellows team is comprised of 28 dynamic and dedicated volunteers from across the country who were selected from a pool of candidates to support state coaching teams in mentoring local Leagues in recruiting and engaging members and the community to make our democracy strong and vibrant. Read about each of our unique and talented National Coaches below.

    The Ruth S. Shur Fellows are a part of the support network provided to participating state coaching teams through the Membership and Leadership Development (MLD) Program. Ruth S. Shur Fellows will be expected to commit to a two-year term from 2015-2017. As a Ruth S. Shur Fellow, you will be trained and supported by LWVUS as you coach up to 2 state Leagues. Ruth S. Shur Fellows will be partnered with another coach to model the team orientation being built through this program and to ensure no gaps in state support. 

    To be considered for a position as a Ruth S. Shur Fellow, you must be nominated using the online nomination form. Self-nominations are welcome. Nomination forms must be completed and submitted by Friday, September 19, 2014.

    To fill out the Ruth S. Shur Fellow nomination form, click here.

  • 13 Aug 2014 12:46 PM | Deleted user

    We previously posted a letter submitted to Joseph Mansky, Ramsey County Elections Manager, requesting extending the hours for early voting. See Mr. Mansky's response to our letter below.

  • 06 Aug 2014 11:08 AM | Deleted user

    League of Women Voters Minnesota has announced it's fall moderator training schedule. Voter Service Workshops are split into two separate workshops to better suit the specific interests of members. Attendees can choose to attend Event/Forum Planning training, Moderator training, or both. Locations include St. Cloud, Park Rapids, North St. Paul, Crystal, and newly confirmed: Red Wing! Moderator training will be offered in Northfield/Cannon Falls in late September/early October. Reminder that you have to be a League member to attend these trainings.

    Visit lwvmn.org for more information or to register for training.

    Moderator Training:

    • 8/16, 1:30 - 4:30 PM, St. Cloud
    • 8/23, 12:45 - 3:45 PM, Park Rapids
    • 9/13, 12:15 - 3:45 PM, St. Paul
    • 9/20, 12:15 - 3:15 PM, Crystal 

    Event/Forum Planning Training:

    • 8/16, 10:15 AM - 1:15 PM, St. Cloud
    • 8/23, 9:15 AM - 12:15 PM, Park Rapids
    • 9/13, 8:45 - 11:45 AM, St. Paul
    • 9/20, 8:45 - 11:45 AM, Crystal
  • 06 Aug 2014 7:13 AM | Deleted user

    Sherri Knuth of the League of Women Voters (LWV) Minnesota submitted a letter on behalf of LWV Minnesota and LWV St. Paul to Ramsey County Elections Manager Joe Mansky requesting additional in-person absentee voting hours for the 2014 general election. See the letter below that was sent to Mr. Mansky on July 15, 2014.

    ________________

    Dear Mr. Mansky:

    League of Women Voters St. Paul and League of Women Voters Minnesota together request that Ramsey County provide additional in-person absentee voting hours on the two Sundays prior to the November 2014 general election.

    As you know, no excuse is required for voting absentee in the 2014 elections and a much greater number of absentee voters is expected. According to the county’s website, Ramsey County will provide expanded hours for in-person absentee voting on the two Saturdays preceding the general election and will be open until 7 p.m. during the week before the election. We appreciate these expanded hours.

    We request that the county provide additional in-person absentee voting hours the two Sundays preceding the general Election Day. We make this request for the purpose of ensuring adequate office hours so that both voters and election offices have a positive experience given the increased number of in-person absentee voters.

    Additional hours will also assure voter access. Sunday hours would provide access for those who mark Saturday as a holy day, those who work on Saturdays, and those who must use Sundays to do errands.

    We appreciate the ongoing efforts of Ramsey County and its Elections Department in ensuring that voters have access to the ballot and that the integrity of Minnesota elections is maintained.

    Sincerely,

    Hally Turner                                           Susan Sheridan Tucker

    President                                                 Executive Director

    League of Women Voters St. Paul      League of Women Voters Minnesota

  • 22 Jul 2014 8:35 PM | Deleted user

    One benefit of League membership is the chance to be a part of the organization's long, rich history of protecting voter rights, engaging communities through education and outreach, and the progress made through advocacy. As part of my tenure as President of the League of Women Voters St. Paul, I want to highlight some of the fantastic stories from our local league.

    Nick Harper, a newly elected board member, spent a significant amount of time researching our local league story. Nick read old Voters, rifled through a seemingly endless number of digital files, and topped the research off with a trip to the Minnesota Historical Society. The product that came of his hard work is a fantastic brief history of the League of Women Voters St. Paul. Read the narrative below.

    ________

    In 1868, a recommendation to amend the Minnesota constitution by striking the word “male” as a requisite for holding office reached the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The bill was met with laughter and immediately tabled by the men of the House. It wasn’t until 1875 that Minnesotan women were allowed to vote in any capacity, but only in local school elections. And it took until 1897 before Minnesotan women were allowed to vote in library elections and hold library offices. Progress was far too slow, and in response, St. Paul women began to form women’s interests groups such as the Ramsey County Suffrage Association and the Woman’s Welfare League of St. Paul, predecessors of the League of Women Voters (LWV) of St. Paul.

    On March 24, 1919, the National American Woman Suffrage Association met in St. Louis, Missouri, at which Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the Association, called upon the attendees to “raise up a league of women voters.” The same day, Minnesota enacted legislation to allow women to vote in presidential elections. Responding to the need to educate the expanding electorate in Minnesota, Cornelia Lusk and Jane Burr founded the Ramsey County League of Women Voters in November 1919.

    During the ’20s and ’30s, the League held day-long schools to instruct voters on the mechanics, history, and value of voting. In 1947, the Ramsey County League of Women Voters closed its doors, and a large portion of its membership became the League of Women Voters of St. Paul. In 1948, LWV St. Paul published “You are the Government” which sold over 17,000 copies its first year. LWV St. Paul published similar documents for decades, including the most recent version, “Guide to Government” in 2013. During the ’50s, LWV St. Paul published several other pamphlets and successfully lobbied for fair employment practices to become state law.

    Over the decades, LWV St. Paul has studied several environmental, local governance, and civil and constitutional rights issues and petitioned for changes to policies and practices. LWV St. Paul’s most recent work includes a 2009 Housing Report study observing the causes and effects of mortgage foreclosures, government actions on affordable housing, and recommended policies and practices. LWV St. Paul was also instrumental in the defeat of a voter ID referendum in 2012 that would have disenfranchised hundreds of voters. Today, LWV St. Paul continues to embody civic virtues of engagement and activism. Become part of history by joining the League of Women Voters of St. Paul today!

  • 14 Jul 2014 8:58 PM | Deleted user

    We've been working on telling our LWVSP story. Our most recent endeavor brings LWVSP into the 21st century. What do you think of this timeline in progress?


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