The League of Women Voters is a national, nonpartisan political organization of women and men dedicated to improving how our democracy works—explore our website! 

Organized in 1920, to educate the new women voters, the League has always been widely recognized as the leading multi-issue political organization in the country. The Michigan League of Women Voters has its office in Lansing and works with 20 local Leagues in Michigan.

The League of Women Voters of Michigan (LWVMI) and Education Fund is looking for a leader with broad nonprofit experience to supervise the day-to-day operations of the office and its small staff and, along with the active volunteer board of directors, manage the activities and enhance the role of the organization.  Fundraising is also an essential part of the job description and specific experience is a plus.

The Executive Director will be salaried based on a 30-hour workweek. There is some flexibility in the schedule and in the benefits package.   A Bachelor's degree is required as well as strong computer skills. View the job description for more details on the position.  Interested parties should submit cover letter and resume to president@lwvmi.org no later than Monday, July 2, 2012. 

The League of Women Voters of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Kelly and Senior Judge James L. Ryan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit convened a Task Force of distinguished Michiganders in December 2010 to study the processes by which state supreme court justices are selected across the United States.  The Task Force studied the issues of judicial selection, heard testimony from experts, debated and eventually reached a consensus on a set of recommendations that they believe can improve the process by which justices are selected for the Michigan Supreme Court.  Click here to download or order a copy the report.

The League of Women Voters believes that voting is a fundamental citizen right that must be guaranteed. The League has long supported the integrity of the voting process.  A series of measures, including requiring a photo ID when voting absentee, have recently been introduced in the Michigan legislature. These new requirements would erect unnecessary barriers to voting. "The League believes that voting should be fair and safe, but erecting unnecessary barriers to voting, such as requiring photo ID, is not fair and is not needed for voting to be safe," says LWVMI President Sue Smith.  We are concerned that the new laws, if passed, could disproportionately suppress turnout of younger voters, minorities and low-income voters. 

The proposed effort to suppress voting in Michigan is part of a nation-wide push that relies on two falsehoods: (1) that voter fraud in the form of voter impersonation is rampant and (2) that every honest voter can easily produce a photo ID . The first premise, that voter fraud in the form of voter impersonation is rampant, is not true. Clerks who run our elections have attested that there is no evidence of voter impersonation in Michigan. Michigan has strong election laws to protect the integrity  of our elections.  Michigan already establishes the identity of voters by means of the Qualified Voter File, the state's voter registration data base. Additional identification in the form of a photo ID is not necessary.

The second premise, that everyone can easily produce a photo ID is also false. Obtaining the  necessary documents, such as an original birth certificate, can be costly and difficult. Some voters  don't have an original birth certificate. A person's inability to take time off from work as well as the  lack of transportation and/or mobility make it hard for some voters to get the photo identification they would need.

LWVMI has taken an active role of fighting these voter suppression laws in Michigan by challenging their necessity in Senate hearings (see testimony given 11-2-11 before the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee) , House of Representatives hearings (see testimony given 4-17-12 before the Michigan House Redistricting and Elections Committee) and working to alert our members and  the public to join with us in fighting this legislation. Click here to view our advocacy initiatives to work against voter suppression in Michigan, and join us in our campaign to guarantee every Michigan citizen the right to vote. 

Voting law changes that passed the MI Senate on February 14 are "an attempt to suppress the vote either by making it harder for people to register to vote or by making it harder for them to vote at the polls," said LWVMI President Sue Smith in one of many, post-vote radio interviews.  The bills require MI voters to present photo ID when registering to vote and obtaining an absentee ballot in person.  Certification and training requirements for groups that register people to vote would also be required.  The bills now move to the House.

Pres. Sue Smith comments on the bills and their impact in a live chat with Rep. Barb Bryum.   (click here to watch the video) 

In Michigan, nearly 1 million people suffer from asthma, including more than 225,000 children. Clean air programs are some of the most successful governmental initiatives in our history. Clean air programs have provided strong public health protections that have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives and prevented countless asthma attacks, heart attacks, premature deaths and other pollution-related illnesses.

Unfortunately, there are ongoing attempts in Congress to roll back public health protections provided by clean air policies that, in some instances, have been in place for decades. Clean air saves lives, and we need to ensure clean air for our children and families in the future. For too long, polluters have been able to focus the debate on “overregulation” and false assertions that environmental protections hurt our economy.

In 1970, Congress made a promise to future generations by passing the Clean Air Act to protect us from pollutants like smog, soot, carbon and mercury. It is up to you to keep that promise and to make your own promise to generations to come.   For the health of our families and communities, we ask you to promise to protect public health from air pollution.  Read the Clean Air Fact Sheet and make the Clean Air Promise at www.peoplenotpolluters.org.

• LWVMI Newsletter, March, 2012
• LWVMI Newsletter, November, 2011
• LWVMI Newsletter, July, 2011
• LWVMI Newsletter, April, 2011
• LWVMI Newsletter, February, 2011

EQUAL PAY DAY: APRIL 17, 2012

Tuesday, April 17, was Equal Pay Day, the day that marks how far into the year a woman must work, on average, to earn as much as a man earned the previous year.  On April 17th, Michigan women called on Michigan legislators to support equal pay for equal work.   Michigan women continue to earn a fraction of what their male counterparts earn for comparable work -- 77 cents for each dollar a man earns. The League of Women Voters was part of a coalition of groups that sponsored events in Lansing on April 17th.  Read the article in the Lansing State Journal here.

MICHIGAN LEAGUES ARE 2012 CONVENTION AWARD FINALISTS!

The League of Women Voters of Michigan is a finalist for the High Impact Online Engagement Award to be presented at the LWVUS convention in June.    LWVMI earned this honor thanks to a series of state-wide member workshops in 2011 that promoted the League's use of blogs, Twitter and Facebook to reach voters, potential members and the public on national and local issues.  LWVMI is also committed to having all of it's Leagues participate in Vote411, the on-line voter guide, in 2012. 

Sharing in the spotlight is the League of Women Voters Oakland Area for its innovative and unique focus combining its high priority issue interest in ‘green living’ with individual advocacy and engaging youth. LWVOA is a finalist in the award category, Community Connection. LWVOA’s PSA contest invited high school youth to create a public service announcement for radio, TV and print media titled  “What Can *I* Do?: The Green Power of One.”

SUPPORT OUR MICHIGAN FINALISTS BY VOTING FOR THEM HERE.

DECEMBER, 2011

We've moved! The office of League of Women Voters of Michigan has been located in the lower level of the Impressions 5 Museum in Lansing since June of 1972. Since the museum will be undergoing renovations in 2012 and will be expanding into the space used by LWVMI, we had to find a new home. We have now moved into a great new office at 600 W. St. Joseph Street in Lansing. The new office is in a convenient location and provides us with additional space for meetings, private offices, and storage that our growing organization needs. The phone number (517-484-5383) will remain the same. Stop by and visit us! 

NOVEMBER 14-16, 2011

LWVUS President Elisabeth MacNamara spent several days in Michigan to meet with Congressional staff and talk to the media about the Clean Air Promise.  She spoke at a public event, "Protecting the Health of Our Families through Clean Air Policies," at the University of Michigan-Dearborn on November 15th about the need to fight against those in Congress who are seeking to undermine the Clean Air Act.    MacNamara was joined by speakers Sue Smith, LWVMI President, and Pam Ortner, Michigan Clean Air Nurse Advocate with Health Care Without Harm. 

OCTOBER 19, 2011

 LWVMI and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School  sponsored  Redistricting: Not Just for Insiders to review Michigan’s current redistricting methods and present alternative approaches.  Joining League President Smith on the panel  were former League of Women Voters U.S. President Mary Wilson, and Jeff Guilfoyle, President of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.  Former State Representative Lynn Jondahl  moderated the discussion.  “We knew the prospect of major change was unlikely this year, when legislators had a direct stake in the outcome” said President Sue Smith.  “But now, with the benefit of recent experience and the stakes deferred for a decade, we should be able to have constructive dialogue about how to do it better next time.  We are going to continue the conversation and work for a process that allows voters to choose their representatives, rather than the other way around.”

OCTOBER 5, 2011

President Sue Smith addressed the Detroit Rotary Club at the Detroit Athletic Club on the topic of "Strengthening our Democracy".  Given the League's belief that a strong democracy depends upon the active participation of an informed electorate, Smith highlighted the League's voter service activities, the need for no reason absentee voting and early voting and the disclosure of who pays for third party campaign ads.  Read her remarks here.   

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

 Joined by US Rep. Hanson Clarke, President Sue Smith spoke in defense of the Clean Air Act at the Delray Community Center in Detroit.  President Smith referenced a recent national poll indicating the public's strong  disapproval for President Obama’s Smog Rule Delay and their unfavorable ratings for Congress’ assault on Clean Air Act.  See a recap of the poll here. 

JUNE 14, 2011

Retired US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the keynote speaker at a forum at a June 14, 2011 forum at the Wayne State University Law School that explored different approaches to selecting Supreme Court judges. The forum was sponsored by the Judicial Selection Task Force, chaired by Michigan Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Kelly and Senior Judge James L. Ryan of the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Justice O'Connor is honorary co-chair of the task force. The event was part of the Task Force's study of methods of selection of Supreme Court justices in the 50 states, and evaluation of Michigan's unique system of selection of Supreme Court justices.  LWVMI promoted the event and assisted with the registration.

MAY - JUNE, 2011

President Sue Smith testified in front of the House and Senate Redistricting Committees a total of five times in May and June, 2011.  Smith represented the Michigan Redistricting Collaborative, of which the League of Women Voters of Michigan is a member.  Click here to view the testimony given to the House on June 21st.