"Equity and Accessibility in Voting: Language and Cultural Barriers to the Polls"

This is a recording of the live "Learn with the League" program from September 28, 2021. The second of this three-part series about equity and accessibility in voting, our panel of Kaohly Her, Minnesota State Representative for district 64A, Hta Thi Yu Moo, Civic Engagement Coordinator at KOM, and Simone Frierson, Outreach Coordinator at the Secretary of State's office, discussed various language and cultural issues they have encountered while voting. Information about current Minnesota state law and specific actions you can take to promote excellence in voting access for all Minnesotan was also discussed.

This is a recording of the live "Learn with the League" program from August 24, 2021. The first of this three-part series about equity and accessibility in voting, our panel of Marion McCarthy, advocate for successful aging, and Nikki Villavicencio, noted disability rights advocate and current Maplewood City Council member, discussed various physical issues they have encountered while voting. Learn about current Minnesota state law and specific actions you can take to promote excellence in voting access for all Minnesota citizens eligible to vote.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rasi9wrwFvo

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You can now read the July-August 2021 newsletter from the League of Women Voters Upper Mississippi River Region Inter-League Organization.

You can now read the July 2021 Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues newsletter.

For the June LWVSP program, Who Gets to Vote?, we were joined by David Schultz and Tammy Patrick. David Schultz is a Hamline University Professor in the departments of political science, legal studies, and environmental studies, and a professor of law at the University of Minnesota. Tammy Patrick is a Senior Advisor for Elections for Democracy Fund and an adjunct professor at the Humphrey School for Public Policy's Certificate in Election Administration program. Both panelists shared presentations and discussed Americans' voting rights in an historical and modern day context.

Watch the recording of the event on YouTube.

Some resources mentioned: 

- Voting Laws Roundup: May 2021 from the Brennan Center for Justice

- National Conference of State Legislatures

- Electionline

June edition of The Voter.

Watch the recording of this event on YouTube!

The April 27th Learn with the League program included a panel of community members working on University Avenue, and beyond. The program, titled Rebuilding University Avenue, included presentations by Chad Kulas, Executive Director at the Midway Chamber of Commerce, Nicolle Goodman, Director of Planning and Economic Development at the City of St Paul, and local business owner Gloria Wong. Ms. Wong’s business, Century Plaza, has been repeated targeted since the riots last May.

Attendees learned about the University area including some of its past. As much as the community has been changing, some things have remained the same, including our own local public rail; an original mainstay over 100 years ago. Damage that was done along University Avenue in St Paul was extensive and is estimated at over $100M. Rebuilding efforts have begun. Monies have been disbursed. Several businesses have moved outside of the area. To date We Love Midway and We Love St Paul have received over $950K in donations. The Chamber has given out 80 grants to businesses each totaling between $5K and $50K.

The City has been working on several fronts to ensure businesses have access to resources. The City is working on two fronts for the community including ensuring that the face of the community is not severely impacted by the redevelopment and also using the HRA to fund community ownership.

Businesses have been impacted in different ways. Some have been completely destroyed while others have only been lightly touched. Century Plaza was originally targeted in May of 2020. Rioters broke windows and looted the inside, spraying graffiti, taking materials and inventory, and destroying the property. Insurance has oftentimes not been available to business owners as the policies typically do not cover this type of damage.

Next steps for the attendees include the following:

• Donations can be made to We Love Midway
• Anyone wanting to volunteer can contact Hands On Twin Cities
• Attendees wanting to do a bit more can contact Chad at chad@midwaychamber.com
• The biggest impact would be to visit the restaurants and businesses along University and those that relocated to other parts of St Paul (Bole to Pascal, Lloyd's is two door down, Peking is in Mai Village)
• Visit Century Plaza at 995 University
• Visit our community businesses.

This is a recording of our live program from March 30, 2021. View to explore the complicated elements of redistricting with our guest speaker Paul Huffman, Redistricting Coordinator for the League of Women Voters Minnesota. Paul gave participants the latest updates on the 2020 census outcome, which dovetails into the current effort to complete the state’s mandatory redrawing of political districts. This legislature-driven process has been shifted to the Courts after the last several censuses, leading to uncertainty and a lack of transparency, and a concern over fairness every ten years. The creation of districts affects all citizens, and Huffman discussed the history of this process in the US and Minnesota, give an update on current litigation and the League’s position on redistricting, and talk through what has happened thus far in the 2021 Minnesota Legislature. At the end, Huffman shared concrete steps Minnesotans can take to promote a more predictable and fair process.

Paul Huffman has been the LWV Minnesota Redistricting Coordinator since June 2019. As a volunteer member of the state office staff, he works with national and state organizations to provide resources, tools, and information for LWV Minnesota, local leagues and members, assisting them in census and redistricting efforts. Paul is also the LWV Woodbury/Cottage Grove Area (WCGA) Voter Service Director and a member of the OurMapsMN Redistricting Campaign Steering Committee. He was a nuclear submarine officer in the US Navy, and retired from the US Naval Reserves. He retired from Xcel Energy in 2019 as General Manager Nuclear Fleet Operations. He has a B.S. in Chemistry, and MA in National Security Affairs, and an MBA.

More information about redistricting: League of Women Voters Minnesota People Powered Fair Maps https://www.lwvmn.org/fair-district-maps

Redistricting Stories

1. This article discusses why people should care about redistricting  Why should we care? - All About Redistricting (lls.edu)
2. This is an article about the results of implementing a citizen advisory commission to the Minneapolis City Charter Commission for redistricting in Minneapolis:  Voters bring more racial, ethnic diversity to Minneapolis City Council | MPR News
3. Read this article on how Partisan Gerrymandering hurts children:  How Partisan Gerrymandering Hurts Kids - Center for American Progress

Redistricting Basics

1. This is a good video on the basics of redistricting  Gerrymandering (video) | Khan Academy
2. This is an article from Brennan Center on some basic questions about redistricting 7 Things to Know About Redistricting | Brennan Center for Justice
3. Ballotpedia, “Understanding Redistricting”, 2017  Understanding Redistricting - YouTube
4. League of Women Voters (LWV) Minnesota People Powered Fair Maps^TM (PPFM^TM) Issue Summary  People Powered Fair Maps™ — League of Women Voters Minnesota (LWVMN)
5. Redistricting in Saint Paul MN, Redistricting | Saint Paul, Minnesota (stpaul.gov) , This is the website for the city of Saint Paul on Redistricting of city council wards

To Learn More or Take Action

1. LWV Minnesota PPFM Action Kit People Powered Fair Maps Action Kit — League of Women Voters Minnesota (LWVMN)
2. Minnesota Reference Library Resource Guide, “Overview of Reapportionment and Redistricting in Minnesota”, January 2020, Redistricting Overview - Minnesota Issues Resources Guides (mn.gov)
3. This is a high level overview of how the organization, roles and process for redistricting in Minnesota.  This includes many studies and presentations by legislative staff over the years on redistricting in Minnesota.
4. MN Legislative Coordinating Committee (LCC) Redistricting 2020 Resources LCC-GIS (leg.mn)
5. The Minnesota Legislative Coordinating Commission is the resource to the Legislature supporting state level redistricting.  This website provide references and resources for state redistricting.
6. 2011Minnesota Redistricting Guide Microsoft Word - 2011 Redistricting Guide Final_rev111025.doc (mn.gov) This document explains in detail how redistricting is the requirements for redistricting at all levels of government in Minnesota and includes references to applicable sections of state statute.  A 2021 edition is in development and will be ready in the next several months.
7. LWV MN Action Alert program Subscribe — League of Women Voters Minnesota (LWVMN)
8. Minnesota Legislative Coordinating Commission (LCC) Geographic Information Service (GIS) Population and District Maps  LCC-GIS (leg.mn) This site provides maps of existing districts as well as variation in population since the 2010 Census to indicate how Congressional and Legislative districts may change in 2021.
9. Minnesota House Research Department Local Government Redistricting 2020 Timeline (February 2020) Local Government Redistricting 2020 (state.mn.us) This provides the timeline for local (city, county, school district) redistricting in Minnesota based on Census and state redistricting timelines and statute.
10. “All About Redistricting”; Home Page - All About Redistricting (lls.edu); This website, maintained by Professor Justin Levitt of Loyola University Law School in Los Angeles, is one of the best all-around sites for understanding and following redistricting reform. It is particularly helpful for tracking lawsuits related to redistricting, and serves as a portal to many other useful sites.
11. National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), “Redistricting Systems: A 50-State Overview”, June 2020; Redistricting Systems: A 50-State Overview (ncsl.org) This is a good non-partisan national overview on redistricting in the U.S.
12. National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), “Public Input and Redistricting”, 9/9/2019; Public Input and Redistricting (ncsl.org) This document discusses practices in different states to provide opportunities for public input and participation in redistricting.

This is a recording of a live program from February 23, 2021. This program focused on civics education in St. Paul Public Schools and included a discussion of the following topics:

• What does a civics education look like in St. Paul Public Schools?
• How do current events, state education standards, and legislation affect classrooms?
• How can, and does, civics education help develop future voters?
• How will the current revision process for civics education at the state level (part of the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards for Social Studies) impact the curriculum?

We were joined by a panel of educators for an informative and multi-faceted discussion.  Panel participants include:

Rebecca Biel, Social Studies Supervisor K-12, Office of Teaching and Learning

Eric Erickson, Social Studies Teacher, Como Park High School

More information about the Minnesota K-12 Standards in Social Studies: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/soc/