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President's Voice

As President of the League of Women Voters Charlotte Mecklenburg it is my distinct pleasure to welcome everyone to our new Club Express webpage. Our transition team has been working diligently for over a year to bring about this launch. Many thanks to Shanda Martin, our Webmaster, and her team: Aubrea Ashe, Regan Aduddell, Lucille Howard, Janis Johnson, Sara Baysinger, Cindy Moore, Margaret Howe-Soper and Meg Rodgers for their hours of dedicated work and technical expertise. Our Executive Board and Action Team Leaders have also spent countless hours attending Boot Camp tutorials and Roundtables and designing their respective forum pages.

As you can see, Club Express provides many new and unique features with lots of bells and whistles including volunteer management, communications, a document library, photo album, an online discussion forum, blog and surveys. We will have the ability to reach more people and our members can log into a personal profile screen and update their contact and directory information.

Feel free to explore this new, big and powerful webpage and enjoy!

Warm regards,
Suzanne Elsberry

Our Position on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The LWVCM commits to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in principle and practice while striving to assist all members to embrace this commitment. Educate, enlighten and provoke discussion around this issue within our chapter and community. Examine all programs and processes under a DEI lens considering the perception by a variety of communities, voices, partners, and perspectives, and identify and address any barriers preventing equity and inclusion of all. Assure a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment by welcoming and solicting new and more diverse members who support our mission and wish to make a positive impact.

Carter Center Initiative

The LWVNC Endorses the Carter Center’s Coalition for Trusted Elections

League chapters in North Carolina are serving as key partners, assisting with hosting and promoting a series of town halls in North Carolina’s 14 Congressional Districts, from August to October 2022. The Carter Center initiative targeting four states was presented to the LWVNC board and is being led by Suzanne Elsberry, League President of Charlotte Mecklenburg. Studies indicate there may elevated risks for these problems likely to escalate during the 2022 elections.

The town hall meetings, one strategic effort of the Carter Center’s NC program, will educate attendees on electoral processes in NC, strengthen their confidence in our election system and officials and bolster belief in the integrity of the election process. Town Halls feature bi-partisan panels including county Elections Board officials, attorneys, operatives from both major parties, media personalities, cyber security experts and government officials familiar with threats to election law.

The Carter Center, a non-partisan organization established in 1982, has been monitoring elections outside the U.S. for decades to strengthen democracy, resolve conflicts and fight disease. Results from a pilot study implemented prior to the 2020 elections revealed the concerning trends of: Polarization, Dehumanizing of people, Confusion, Disinformation and Disruption, threats against peaceful transfer of power after an election, and most disturbing: loss of support for Basic Democratic Norms.

Former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and retired NC Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr are directing the primary strategies centered around establishing networks of community leaders and organizations willing to advocate for and endorse the North Carolina program.

Current Issues & Thoughts

Thank You Message to Renewing and New Members
As President of the League of Women Voters of Charlotte Mecklenburg, it is my
pleasure to extend a very special welcome and a personal note of appreciation to
both our renewing members and to those of you who have who have recently
joined our League.

We are grateful for both your continued and recent support for our 103-year-old
organization as we seek to empower the vote and defend democracy through
promoting informed citizen participation in government and influencing public
policy through education and advocacy.

Whether you choose to support us with your dues alone, attending social and
educational events, or at the deeper levels of organizing major projects, leading or
serving on our action teams or as a Board member, we welcome your involvement.

Fully committed to the principles and practice of the ideals of Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion, we move toward the crucial election years ahead remaining a
steadfast, non-partisan, volunteer-based organization working to strengthen
democracy from the ground up! Thank you for keeping LWVCM strong and
vibrant!

Suzanne

Suzanne Elsberry, President
The League of Women Voters of
Charlotte Mecklenburg

Check out this link to learn more about the updated Voter ID information and guidance.

10 Facts About NC’s Photo ID Requirement for Voting | NCSBE

This month, I am departing from my usual message by featuring an essay by a Michael H. the nephew of our Board Secretary, Pam Liebman. Michael is a Junior attending Western University in Bellingham, Washington considering a teaching career. Michael’s essay focuses on the very timely topic of the history, origins and impact of the exploitation of fear as a means of control and manipulation. When questioned about what can be done to encourage young people to vote, Michael replied: “Make me see my vote counts.” Pam relates that her brother is enjoying the dialogue resulting through his exchanges with his grandson about his essay.

It is important to recall what Edmund Burke, an 18th Century philosopher (also quoted in Michael’s essay) said of fear: “No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” Unfortunately, we have witnessed Burke’s observation play out in recent elections as some politicians have persuaded voters through fear tactics to favor a particular party or candidate. Studies have revealed that these messages exert almost two times the effect as straightforward messaging. In addition, the use of fear to influence voters negatively affects voter turnout. These exploitive attempts to influence voting include conspiracy theories which we observe infiltrating our news on a daily basis.

What can we do to combat this scourge? The answer may lie in educating our citizens on the underlying psychology of fear. Hopefully, this will lead toward a more informed voting public, who is less vulnerable to lies and appeals to their most deep-seated fears.
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Essay on Culture

President's Voice

Our Position on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Carter Center Initiative

Current Issues & Thoughts

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