Home - League of Women Voters - Grand Traverse Area

The LWV Michigan Voter Guide is here!

Snap the QR code to view the voter guide.

Save a PDF of the QR code for your own. Open!

Download a PDF of the voter guide HERE.

A Big Thank You to Our Elections Officials!

Michigan elections are secure, accurate, and fair.

Our elections are secure, accurate and fair. Thousands of Republican, Democratic and independent election clerks, staff and volunteers make sure this is true every election. Here is what you need to know about the canvass and certification process and how it helps ensure secure and accurate elections.

County canvasses, completed by bipartisan Boards of County Canvassers, involve a review of local election records and verifying individual precinct results. County canvasses must start no later than two days after Election Day. The canvass must be completed and the results must be certified within 14 days of Election Day. County canvassers are required to certify elections. Their jobs are purely clerical, and they cannot question the results of an election. Read more at MichiganVoting.org

Michigan needs more election inspectors (i.e. poll workers ) for the early voting period and Election Day.

Democracy MVP is the state of Michigan’s award-winning, non-partisan poll worker recruitment program. Sign up with Democracy MVP today to get trained, get paid, and help your community run smooth and secure elections! Be a Poll Worker

Vote411 Election Information You Need

Candidate and Proposal Forums

The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area hosted several forums to provide information to local voters about candidates and proposals on November ballot.

View Recordings of Candidate or Informational Forums for the November Election Here!

Candidate Form for US Congressional District 1 - Michigan. 1st Congressional Forum

Candidate Forum for Grand Traverse County Commissioners. Districts 3& 5 start about 3 minutes into the video; Districts 6,7,& 9 start about 1 hour and 15 minutes into the video. GT County Commissioners

Candidate Forum by the LWV Michigan for Michigan Supreme Court. Michigan Supreme Court

Candidate Forum for Traverse City Area Public Schools Board of Education, Oct 7, 2024, the forum starts about 14 minutes into the video. TCAPS Board of EducationTh

Informational Forum for Traverse City Proposals 1 & 2 (TIF), Oct 8. 2024, the forum starts about 15 minutes into the video TIF Proposals - Traverse City

These programs can also be viewed at Community TV Channel 189 with Spectrum cable TV in northwest lower Michigan or on the TACM website.

Traverse City Record-Eagle, 7/26/24

November 5 is the General Election

Key Dates:

Sept. 26 - Absentee Ballot voting starts

Be sure to return your ballot - the clerk must receive it no later than Tuesday November 5

Oct. 21 - Last day for online voter registration

After Oct 21, you can register in person at your township or city clerk's office

Early in-person voting is available for nine days from

Saturday October 26 through Sunday November 3

Early in-person voting locations for Grand Traverse County are shown in the box on the left. If you live in another Michigan county, contact your local township or county clerk to learn about your early in-person voting location or enter your address at michigan.gov/vote or vote411.org.

Early in-person voting follows the same process as in-person voting on election day, but often there are no lines. Stop in while you are out running errands! If you have already received an absentee ballot, you can also bring it with you and watch it go through the tabulator.

It's Voter Registration and Voter Education Season!

LWV-Grand Traverse Area is reaching out to potential voters to assist with registration and to answer any questions they may have about voting in Michigan. We have participated in thirteen events this summer, with eight more events planned. Kudos to Donna and all of the volunteers who are making this happen.

We need volunteers for our events in September and October! If you would like to volunteer, please reach out to Donna Moore at donnabmooreusa@gmail.com.

For more information about voting in Michigan you can go to the state website at michigan.gov/vote or to a partner non-profit Michiganvoting.org

Read the entire press release here.

Volunteers needed for observing the Boards of Canvassers,
starting November 6th

The League of Women Voters of Michigan (LWVMI) is once again sponsoring the County Board of Canvassers Observer Program following the November Election. As we have learned since 2020, there are important processes that take place after election day. One of these steps is the Board of Canvassers (BOC) review that is done in each county when they meet to review the paperwork submitted by each of the precincts in their county and certify the election results.

The League supports a process of providing neutral observers for the BOC process in each county. This is consistent with the League's commitment to protect the election and voting rights.

We are asking for volunteers to observe the BOC meetings in these counties: Grand Traverse, Antrim, Benzie, Crawford and Kalkaska. The meetings typically start on the Wednesday or Thursday after the election, from 9a-5p M-F until the review is done. The shifts are 2-3 hours. Observers are asked to be neutral, observe and complete a very short report for the League after each shift.

Please reach out to Alice Schuman (schuman.alice@gmail.com, 917-664-4358) or Marcia Koppa (mbkoppa54@gmail.com, 989-348-2933).

Fund-Raiser

2024 Holiday Wreaths and Garlands

It's time to order your holiday greens for home and office decorating, and to give as gifts. You'll be ready for the holidays, and you'll be supporting local League programs.

These are very lush and beautiful wreaths and garlands!

The wreaths come in many sizes made with fresh greens from an area greenhouse, trimmed with pinecones, berries & red velvet bow. Garland Roping can be used outside, or you can drape it inside along stair railings, around doors, and along fireplace mantles.

A tree is planted for every wreath made!

HERE IS THE ORDER FORM

ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15th

Pick up date, time, and location: Traverse City, Saturday, November 23rd

ONLY- from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Ingrid Brophy's,

719 Munson Ave. at the swan sign across from the Shell station.

Delivery can be arranged.

Many Thanks!!

Many thanks to everyone who attended our annual meeting on June 10th. It was a great time to connect, reconnect and hear from compelling speakers.

Sheryl Guy, Antrim County Clerk, received our 2024 Making Democracy Work award. This award honors a public servant who has diligently striven to provide the best service for her county and has succeeded in fulfilling her duties in an exemplary manner. Her very moving speech described the challenges that she and Antrim County faced after the 2020 election.

The LWV-GTA Outstanding Service Award recognizes the continued support of the mission to “empower voters and defend democracy” by a member of our League. This year we recognized LWVGTA/CCU leader, Marcia Koppa, for her exceptional leadership in developing the Crawford County Geographical Unit. Marcia Koppa, thank you for your efforts to grow League one member at a time.

Our keynote speakers were Mark Brewer and Jeff Timmer who shared their perspectives on "What are the Risks to Democracy Now?". There was a lively and informative Q&A! If you want to hear more from them, they are co-presenters of a podcast "A Republic, If You Can Keep It".

Media Literacy 101:

How to tell if the information we receive can be trusted

April 16, 2024

LWVGTA sponsored a discussion about whether the information we are receiving is factual and truthful, especially with AI and social media discrepancies. Discussion included effective use of communication strategies and how these strategies can be used to spread an organization’s message.

Presenters were: Rebecca Pierce from the Traverse City Record-Eagle; Scott Harmsen, GVSU adjunct professor; Tak Ready, West Senior High School civics and government educator; and Ed Ronco, Interlochen Public Radio News Director. Jaquelyn Richer, an ASL Interpreter will be signing.

The program recording can be viewed at the LWVGTA Facebook page at Media Literacy Presentation

A Day in the Life of a Legislator, January 15, 2024

Michigan House Representative Betsy Coffia (D 103rd)

Michigan House Representative John Roth (R 104th)

Moderator: Jean Howard

A program focused on the challenges of legislators working together to bring needed funding and projects to the communities they represent. Democrat Representative Betsy Coffia and Republican Representative John Roth, both serving in the Michigan House of Representatives, shared their experiences as Michigan Legislators.

Watch the Legislator program at Traverse Area Community Media here.

From Publication to the Public: A Library Book’s Path to the Reader

Tuesday March 19, 2024

This program focused on how a library book gets to the reader’s hands with discussion of the process of publication, process of library selection, censorship, and book banning efforts.

Presenters are: Michele Howard, Director of Traverse Area District Library (TADL), Stephie Luyt, Elementary Library Coordinator for Traverse City Area Public Schools, and Karrie Zeits, a governmental law attorney. Jaquelyn Richer, was the ASL Interpreter.

Watch a recording here on the LWVGTA FaceBook page

In the News!

A recent article in the Northern Express interviewed the local League presidents from four chapters: our own Grand Traverse Area, plus Petoskey, Leelanau and Manistee. It recaps the national League history and shares the beginnings of each of the local league chapters.

"BEYOND THE BALLOT MEET THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS CHAPTERS OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN

BY KIERSTIN GUNSBERG | MARCH 16, 2024

It was the spring of 1919, and president of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) Carrie Chapman Catt was chomping at the bit. Even as the organization was celebrating its 50th anniversary, it still hadn’t completed its mission of equal voting rights for women. NAWSA had made headway, sure, having already won the right to vote in a handful of states, but the endgame was a constitutional amendment guaranteeing all women across the country that right."

Voter registration event at "Radium Girls"

at Old Town Playhouse in Traverse City

Early in April, the Old Town Playhouse in Traverse City presented "Radium Girls" which is set at a time when women had just had their right to vote confirmed in the United States Constitution. The Radium Girls' fight for justice was an important step in building protections for all workers. The director and the producer thought encouraging people to vote would fit nicely with the message of the play. The team at OTPH asked LWVGTA to do a voter registration/voter education session during the matinee performance on Saturday April 13th; a group from the Voter Services team did just that!

Here is a link to a short segment aired on 9/10 news about the collaboration:

‘Radium Girls’ closing run in Traverse City with appearance by League of Women Voters – 9&10 News (9and10news.com)

LWV Research Leads to Michigan Women's Hall of Fame

It began as an effort to salute hard work by the LWV-Grand Traverse Area encouraging a successful YES Vote to fund a new library in the mid-1990s. Award-winning author Heather Shumaker wove this story into her 2022 book, Beyond Books: Stories of Traverse Area Libraries 1960-2020, which included another story of dedicated women who left their mark on the Traverse City landscape.

The Traverse City Ladies’ Library Association (LLA) started in 1869 when Traverse Township was just a "scruffy little logging community". These ladies provided library services and a large public meeting hall to the community for more than 30 years. For this effort, the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame, which “honors distinguished women, both historical and contemporary” with Michigan connections, is awarding them this ultimate recognition.

Now the Traverse City LLA ranks up there with Mary Free Bed Guild, Aretha Franklin, Helen Milliken, Jennifer Granholm, Sojourner Truth, Betty Ford, Judith Karandjeff, Rosa Parks, and other luminaries.

Using research developed for Beyond Books, GTA League members Anne Magoun and Ann Swaney submitted the nomination for the LLA. As one of the LLA founders said: “Our aim is not a selfish one. All the toil and endeavor of these years has not been for our own aggrandizement or pleasure, but to accomplish a good work for our community …” (Martha E. Cram Bates, Grand Traverse Herald, 12/12/1878).

They would have been good LWV members, right?

--from LWVMI League Links, November 23, 2023