The Sunnyvale Sun
News
League of Women Voters helps voters sort things out
By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL
Even though there are no city council elections to stir up controversy in Sunnyvale this November, there are a number of ballot measures that will affect Santa Clara County and California as a whole.
To help voters sort through campaign information and political mailers, the League of Women Voters of Cupertino/Sunnyvale is putting on a pros and cons meeting at the Sunnyvale Public Library on Oct. 18.
Although the league regularly endorses legislation, the information meeting is produced by the education half of the organization. According to Linda Davis, in charge of voter education for Cupertino and Sunnyvale, the League of Women Voters is two separate legal entities. One, the members' organization, takes stands and supports issues, but does so without aligning with a political party. The second side focuses on nonpartisan public education on current issues, the voting process and election information.
"From the start, the league has had a dual mission of education and advocacy," Davis said.
The League of Women Voters began Feb. 14, 1920, six months before women won the right to vote. It has since spread across the nation, and even played a pivotal role in helping establish the United Nations and the United States' participation in it.
Davis herself has been with the league since 1986, after looking for information on local issues shortly after she moved to Sunnyvale.
"I thought 'No one else really does this, and people need it,'" she remembered.
Today, Davis and a speaking partner tour the South Bay, in Sunnyvale, Cupertino and even Santa Clara and other nearby cities to present voting information to public and private groups.
This year, she said a lot of attention is being focused on Propositions 88 and 89 because they involve new or increased taxes.
In addition to voting information, education on statewide budget issues and the budget-planning process has become a hot topic for voters, she says.
"Our goal is always to get the information to people in a format that is balanced but also provides them with a basis for choice," Davis said. "We want to move people away from the very influential things they get in their mailboxes. We're trying to inform them, not influence them to vote in one way or another."
Typically, Davis, her speaking partner and volunteers from the American Association of University Women speak together, with one person introducing an issue and then different women speaking about the different sides of it. Davis says this serves to reinforce the unbiased approach by making sure people don't even associate the voice of the speaker with one side or another.
That balance makes it easier for them to find places to speak, because many groups they speak to--such as the library--serve a broad cross-section of the community.
"Because they offer pros and cons, it's something we're able to present at the library, because it's balanced," said Sunnyvale Library Director Deborah Barrow.
IF YOU GO:
What: Pros and cons
of ballot measures
Where: Sunnyvale Public Library, program room
When: Oct. 18, 7-8:45 p.m.
Tickets: Free admission
Parking: Free
For more information, call: 408.730.7292 or visit www.cs.ca.lwvnet.org.
