Interests

Voting rights are under attack. In recent years, politicians in dozens of states have erected intentional barriers to our right to vote, including forcing discriminatory voter ID and proof-of-citizenship restrictions on eligible voters, reducing polling place hours in communities of color, cutting early voting opportunities and illegally purging voters from the rolls. We are at the forefront of the most important federal and state voting rights cases around the country. We actively oppose discriminatory voter photo ID laws, fight against attacks against the voter registration process, and hold lawmakers accountable when they try to institute last-minute Election Day barriers. We work year-round to combat voter suppression through advocacy, grassroots organizing, legal action and public education. Our efforts have resulted in the protection of voting rights and ballot access for millions of Americans.

Every eligible voter should have a fair and equal opportunity to register to vote and to cast their ballot. Millions of Americans miss the opportunity to vote because they don’t know how to register or they miss their state’s deadline to register. As the nation’s largest and longest-standing grassroots voter registration organization, our volunteers register hundreds of thousands of voters and host community voter registration drives across the country each year. We concentrate our registration drives at locations that reach large numbers of unregistered voters, including high schools and community colleges, transit hubs and naturalization ceremonies. Each year, we also help tens of thousands of Americans register online at VOTE411.org.

The right to vote is a fundamental principle of our democracy. When more Americans can participate in our elections, the outcome better reflects who we are as a country. We work year-round at the state and local level to enact voting reforms that best increase turnout and help new communities participate in the process, making our elections more free, fair and accessible. Our volunteers have been behind some of the most important voting reform victories in recent years. From fighting for expanded early voting, to enacting automatic and online voter registration and more, we are working to modernize our voting systems and streamline the voting process. We also work to ensure compliance with laws like the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which have helped millions of Americans access their right to vote.

Political and racial gerrymandering distorts and undermines representative democracy by allowing officials to select their voters rather than voters to elect their officials. When done for purposes of racial discrimination or to ensure the dominance of one political party, gerrymandering runs counter to equal voting rights for all eligible voters. We promote transparent and accountable redistricting processes and to end hyper-partisan practices that don't benefit constituents. We believe responsibility for fair redistricting should be vested in an independent special commission, with membership that reflects the diversity of the unit of government. The League works in states across the country to pass ballot initiatives to institute independent redistricting commissions.

Reducing the influence of big money in our politics makes our elections fairer. Voters have the right to know who is raising money for which political candidates, how much money they are raising and how that money is being spent. Our elections should be free from corruption and undue influence and should work so that everyday Americans can run for office, even if they aren't well connected to wealthy special interests. We fight to reform money in politics in Congress, with state legislatures, with the executive branch and, where appropriate, the courts. We are deeply committed to reforming our nation's campaign finance system to ensure the public's right to know, combat corruption and undue influence, and enable candidates to compete more equitably in public office and allow maximum citizen participation in the political process.

The U.S. health care system should provide a basic level of quality health care at an affordable cost to all U.S. residents. Basic care includes disease prevention, primary care (including prenatal and reproductive health), acute long-term care, mental health care, as well as health promotion and education. Health care policy goals should include the equitable distribution of services and delivery of care, advancement of medical research and technology, and a reasonable total national expenditure level. Over the past 20 years, we have lobbied for health care policy solutions, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), to control costs and ensure a basic level of care for all. Throughout the health care debates of the past few decades, Leagues worked to provide millions of Americans across the country with objective information about the health care system and its significant reforms. This included organizing community education projects, holding public forums and debates, creating an

The preservation of the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the earth’s ecosystem is essential for maximum protection of public health and the environment. The interrelationships of air, water and land resources should be recognized in designing environmental safeguards. The federal government should have the major role in setting standards for environmental protection and pollution control. Since the 1960s, we have been at the forefront of efforts to protect air, land and water resources. Our approach to environmental protection and pollution control is one of problem solving. The League’s environmental goals aim to prevent ecological degradation, and to reduce and control pollutants before they go down the sewer, up the chimney or into the landfill. We support vigorous enforcement mechanisms, including sanctions for states and localities that do not comply with federal standards as well as substantial fines for noncompliance.

All persons should receive fair treatment under the law and it is critical for the U.S. to encourage immigrant participation in our democracy. We support federal immigration laws that provide efficient, expeditious systems for immigrants to enter the United States. Seeking asylum at points of entry into the United States is part of our legal immigration process and assaults on asylum seekers are unAmerican. The League of Women Voters stands in solidarity with immigrants and our partners in the immigrant rights community. The 116th Congress must take immediate action to pass common sense, fair immigration policies that end the crisis at our border, ends the separation of families, and provides a path to citizenship.

The leaders we elect make decisions that affect our daily lives. Elections are our chance to stand up for what matters most to us and to have an impact on the issues that affect us, our communities, our families and our future. We host hundreds of candidate debates and forums across the country each year and provide straightforward information about candidates and ballot issues. Through print and online resources, including VOTE411.org, we equip voters with essential information about the election process in each state, including polling place hours and locations, ballot information, early or absentee voting rules, voter registration deadlines, ID requirements and more.