Empowering voters. Defending democracy: League of Women Voters of the San Juans

Published 1:30 am Thursday, August 21, 2025

By the League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. At the root of the League’s actions is our love for democracy. Many residents in San Juan County have participated in the League’s candidate forums. As a nonpartisan organization, we do not endorse candidates or political parties. In fact, the presidents and chairs of voter services are barred from making contributions or taking other actions that may indicate a preference for one candidate or party over another. Maintaining our nonpartisanship is one way that we empower voters and defend democracy.

Being nonpartisan does not stop the League from taking positions on issues that affect our democracy. When we adopt a position, it must be based on serious research and analysis. During the past two years, the San Juan League chaired a study that led to a new position for the League of Women Voters of Washington State on “Welcoming Immigrants in Washington State.” Our local league also participated actively in building consensus for positions on local journalism, elder care in Washington and reforms of the federal judiciary.

When we see assaults on democracy, we do not stay quiet. In April 2025, the National League declared that the United States was facing a Constitutional crisis. As Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, and Dianna Wynn, president of the League of Women Voters, stated: “The foundational principles that have sustained our democracy—checks and balances, the rule of law, free and fair elections—are under direct and sustained threat. In this extraordinary moment, we cannot proceed with business as usual. All Americans—no matter who you voted for in 2024—need to come together, stand united, and fight back to save our democracy. We cannot afford to fail the generations to come.”

Since this declaration, the League nationwide is taking steps, along with allied organizations, to educate, advocate and, when necessary, litigate in defense of democracy. In May, the League launched the Unite and Rise 8.5 initiative, which aims to mobilize 8.5 million voters using the power of voter engagement as a cornerstone of our democracy. Unite and Rise 8.5 showcases the many ways voters can drive change, including through advocacy, mobilization, civic education and engagement. For example, the League is urging members of the Senate to defeat the SAVE Act, as its passage would make it more difficult to vote in Washington state and elsewhere in the country. Leagues across the country have sued to stop voter suppression, challenging those who seek to restrict Black, brown, female, disabled and other Americans from making their voices heard in our democracy. The League — including the League of the San Juans — will continue to offer voter forums, register voters, provide civics education to children and adults, and provide information based on evidence, not party alignment.

Please join us in this important work. All residents of San Juan County are welcome to attend our Voter Forums and informational meetings on issues of importance to all of us. We encourage you to become a member of the League to get even more information about the state of our democracy from the national, state and local leagues. You can become a member online (https://portal.lwv.org/membership) or send a check to LWVSJ, PO Box 784, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. To ensure that everyone interested in protecting democracy can join, the League has a “pay-as-you-can” policy.

As Carrie Chapman Catt, who first proposed the creation of the League of Women Voters, stated so eloquently, “Everybody counts in applying democracy. And there will never be a true democracy until every responsible and law-abiding adult in it, without regard to race, sex, color, or creed, has his or her own inalienable and (sic) unpurchasable voice in government.” This is still our mission and the reason that it is up to all of us to protect our democracy.