From the President's Desk

From the desk:

We are in that season that brings joy, contemplation, and way too much to do.  As I think about the recent past and a new year approaching, I am amazed at our accomplishments in the League and what we want to accomplish in 2025. 

The Dallas League used Voters Guides, bookmarks, and Vote411.org to inform and educate the public about the 2024 elections. Our Voters Guides and Vote411.org provided the candidates' responses to our questions, and the pros and cons of propositions and issues. For November's national, state, and local election, we printed 40,000 copies of the Voters Guide and 55,000 bookmarks and distributed them throughout the county. A huge hurrah for Elizabeth Walley and the Voters Guide team.

Our fantastic volunteer, Dorit Suffness, redesigned our Get Ready to Vote flyer for use in Dallas County and, per request, reconfigured the document for use in Rockwall and Tarrant County.

We registered new voters at naturalization ceremonies, community events, and college campuses. A grand corps of volunteers led by Barbara Larkin provided voter education at Dallas College campuses, SMU, and UT Dallas classrooms. Another great group of volunteers led by Kelly Martin assisted senior living residents with changing addresses, requesting mail-in ballots, and voter education.

We held general meetings to educate the public and unit meetings on topics of interest.

The board and some prior board members began working on our strategic plan for the future, which we will complete by end of the fiscal year.

The Dallas League revived Women’s Equality Day at Dallas City Hall, which was recognized in the Dallas Morning News. For that effort, we received the Gender Equality Award from the Dallas Chapter of the United Nations Foundation.

Through the help of our awardees, The Honorable Margaret Keliher and Chantal Retana Lule, an extraordinary Luncheon Committee headed by Cecilia McKay, and our Co-Chairs Laura V. and Catherine Estrada, we held our Making Democracy Work Luncheon in February and shattered previous fund-raising amounts. I want to recognize the hard work of the Silent Auction subcommittee chaired by Becky Brakke. A special shoutout to Madge Cruse for her hard work before, during, and after the event. Thanks to everyone who contributed and worked hard to make the event successful!

For 2025, our luncheon will be on Friday, February 21st. Ticket purchases, donations, and sponsorships are now open on our website. And don’t forget to look in the back of your cupboards and closets for those forgotten items you want to donate to the Silent Auction. If you have an interest in volunteering or questions about the event or sponsorships, please get in touch with Cecilia McKay at cemck@currently.com.

While 2025 is not a national election year, we will still contact candidates, hold candidate forums, and produce the Voter Guides and Vote411.org for the May local elections.

Our VPs of Advocacy, Jessica Rivera-Lucas and Kebran Alexander, will be very busy during the 2025 Legislative session keeping us informed about the work happening in Austin.

Our fiscal year ends on May 31, 2025.  We have positions to fill for our board next year, including the president’s.  We are looking for energetic men and women who want to join our board or take on committee work.  Send any questions or résumés to president@lwvdallas.org, and I’ll get them to the nominating committee chair.

Finally, and crucially, I'd like to direct you to a call for action from the US League, "The President Must Immediately Publish the Equal Rights Amendment." You can also find the article on our website's home page. Taking action is easy—just fill in the form and click TAKE ACTION at the bottom of the page. If you're logged in, your information will already be populated into the form. Let’s get this done.

I thank the board members and special volunteers who make our work possible.

I wish you a very happy holiday, whatever you celebrate. May we all recognize each other and celebrate in peace and kindness.

In League,

Sandy Thornton

A Note from our Intern

Hello League of Women Voters of Dallas Members! Remember me?

My name is Sophia Guthrow and I have been interning with the League since September. I have had so many great opportunities at LWVD and have learned so much more about civic engagement and voter education.

One of my first impressions of the LWVD was in a Board meeting where I spoke with most of the board at the League. The major topic being discussed was dissecting the numerous Dallas propositions and how to explain each in the Voters Guide. I had no idea how complex and difficult the language of the propositions were. However, it was crucial for voters to be able to understand what they were voting for or against.

Leading up to the elections in November the League wanted to have daily facts go out to our social media followers educating voters. This was our “Did you know?” campaign. I helped collect and outline the facts from TCRP Texas Civil Rights Project covering Mail-In Ballots, Voter ID laws, Electioneering, Voting Rights, etc. Through this project I was able to educate myself on numerous aspects of voting and feel more informed because of this project.

Lastly, I have been able to attend numerous LWVD events throughout Dallas. My favorites being the Parade to the Polls event and Fall Fest at the Dallas College Richland Campus. Our objective was to engage with students and ensure that eligible voters had a plan to vote and answer any questions they may have about the election. We met with extremely dedicated volunteers who embody what it means to be civically engaged.

Through these various projects and experiences I have been able to be more civically engaged. This has given me new perspectives on issues throughout Dallas and has shown me that it only takes a few people to spark change. I believe that it is critical for us all to engage in our community - whether that is through volunteering, educating ourselves and others about issues, and most importantly voting. Thank you so much for providing me with this incredible opportunity! I now know what my go to resource is for future elections!

In Memoriam: Eugenia D. Fritz

Genie became a resource person for the League and was chosen to travel throughout the country to learn about poverty programs. She was selected for her experience in poverty issues and because she spoke Spanish, a legacy from her Mexican grandmother. Genie also participated in the Overseas Education Fund established in 1947 by the League of Women Voters to help women organize in order to solve their problems and overcome barriers to their full participation in the social, political, and economic lives of their societies.

Genie served as President of the LWV Dallas and was also on the Board of LWV Texas. The LWV Dallas awarded her the Virginia Macdonald Leadership Award in 1999.

Genie was president of the Women’s Southwest Federal Credit Union, president of the Greater Dallas Housing Opportunity and was involved with the Girl Scouts.  She has been recognized for her decades of work in Texas conservation and environmental concerns. She shared the North Texas Master Naturalist Dragonfly Award with her late husband Ned Fritz. Genie and Ned created many of the agencies that ensure preservation and environmentally sound treatment of many of the great parks in Texas.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at First Unitarian Church of Dallas at 1 pm.   You can learn more about the successes Ned and Genie had working on environmental issues here: https://nedfritz.com/

Volunteers Will Be Gearing Up Again in Early 2025

Our next election is Saturday, May 3, 2025.  Here are some important dates:

• January 2025: Renew or get certified as a Volunteer Deputy Registrar (VDR). Watch for emails from Dallas County Elections Department about classes.
• January 1, 2025: First day to send Application for Ballot by Mail
• February 14, 2025: Last day to file for place on General Election Ballot – this is when our Vote411/Voter Guide teams move into gear.
• April 3, 2025: Last day to register to vote
• April 21, 2025: First day of early voting
• April 29, 2025:  Last day of early voting
• May 3, 2025, 7pm: Last day to receive Ballot by Mail if carrier envelope is NOT postmarked

Meet your elected officials and help LWV TX gather their opinions on issues for the upcoming legislative session

Every two years, before the Texas legislature convenes, LWV TX works to reach out to those who will serve. Each local League has been assigned to specific legislators where districts overlap. This is a great volunteer opportunity. If you would like to be on the team (usually 2 or 3 people) visiting the legislators in your districts please let us know. Here are two ways to do that:

• To find your profile, hover over your name on the upper right, click Profile.
•  Click Additional Member Data and scroll to the bottom to find those questions.
• If you aren’t sure which are your districts and you live in Dallas County and you are registered to vote, go to www.dallascountyvotes.org, click the 3 horizontal bars on the upper left for the Menu, click Voters, click Voter Lookup, scroll down to fill in your name and birthdate, then click SEARCH. Scroll down a bit to click MY DISTRICTS. When you get here, please note that there are several categories. It is easiest to click STATE. (Federal is the default option.) Scroll – it’s a long list. The interviews are for state legislators.
•  Another way to find your districts is to look at your voter registration card.  All those boxes with numbers will be your answers.
• If you are registered in another county, please go to that county’s website.

2. If you aren’t a member or don’t have time or interest to use the website, please email Jessica Rivera-Lucas or Kebran Alexander, our Co-VPs of Advocacy at info@lwvdallas.org.  Please put State EO Interviews in the Subject line.

3. If you would like to meet with your elected official or staff at levels other than state please email Jessica and Kebran for tips on that process.

Thank you for helping us have constituents at each of our interviews.

Advocacy Interest Group on Immigration — Focus on a New Webpage

LWVD doesn’t have a webpage under Advocacy on Immigration even though we have 36 members who have expressed an interest in Immigration. Recently we embarked on gathering local, state, and national resources to share with the members. We are making great progress. We want our members to know about the many aspects of the issue and the many groups working in Dallas County. If you know any groups working on the issue, please send them to me an email via info@lwvdallas.org.

Once we have this page up, I will shift my focus to a webpage on the Environment. If you are interested in this issue, please let me know.

Diane Tasian, Director of Volunteers.

Hold the Date

League of Women Voters of Dallas

6060 N. Central Expwy, Ste #500