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LWV Election Forums

What is a Candidate Forum?

Hear directly from candidates for local, statewide and national office.
The local League invites every candidate officially on the ballot to answer questions and give statements before the public. Each candidate has the same amount of time to speak.

Most of our forums are now online via Zoom. We then post the Zoom recoding on our LWVCS YouTube channel.

Little known fact: The first televised Presidential Candidate Forum was developed and presented by the US League of Women Voters in 1976, Jimmy Carter(D) and Gerald Ford (R).

What is a Pro's & Con's Forum?

Pro's & Con's are presentations that provide concise and unbiased summaries of state and local ballot measures in an election.
The purpose of the Pros & Cons is to provide an understanding of the fundamental issues on which voters are being asked to vote yes or no.

The League is committed to providing voters with unbiased information they need to make informed decisions.

Note: Occasionally, after much research and discussion, the League takes a position pro or con on a measure. In keeping with our commitment to presenting non-biased information, any League positions are not presented in a Pro's & Con's Forum.

How do we do Forums?

Have you ever watched an LWV Forum and wondered how in the world we make it happen? It takes a little help from a lot of volunteers.

Would you be willing to help out? Joining our League, or even just Clicking to sign up for our Newsletter can keep you informed on what help we need and when.

Now is your chance!

We need volunteers who would like to learn from experienced members who will show you how they do it and help you to take on some of the tasks for the next election.

The jobs for which we need volunteers are:

Event Director - For one or more Forums: Enlists other workers (see following list), trains workers, manages tasks, sends invitations to candidates. { takes about 6 to 10 hours per forum over a period of 1 to 2 months before an election}
Moderator - For a Forum: Introduces and moderates the forum, asks questions of candidates or introduces Pro/Con speakers. {about 4- 8 hours per forum}
Pro/Con Writer: For one or more ballot measures: Researches the measure(s) to identify the history behind, the main provisions, fiscal effect, what supporters and opponents are saying, and the question the voters are being asked. Creates bullet points for slides and a script for presenters to use.
PowerPoint Creator: For a Forum: Creates slides to support either a Candidate or a Pro/Con Forum, using a provided format.
Pro/Con Presenter: For one or more ballot measures: Do the presentation of the ballot measure materials using the prpared slides and script.
Timer - For a Forum:: Keeps time as each candidate speaks, signals time remaining and end of time allotment. {training time, plus about 2 hours per forum}
Zoom Manager/recording - For one or more Forums: Creates the Zoom meeting, schedules Zoom prep meetings, acts as Zoom host during the forum, ensures the recording gets posted on our website. {about 6-10 hours per forum}
Question Manager – For a Forum: Enlists a small team to help sort questions, collects questions sent by registrants before the event, monitors the Chat during the event, gets the questions to the moderator. {about 4 – 8 hours per forum}
Communications / registration – For a Forum: Advertises the forum, registers participants if necessary {about 2-4 hours per forum}

Now more than ever we need to continue to empower voters and defend democracy.

LWV Members - Do your part by volunteering for one (or more!) of these tasks! What excites you?

Not a member? Join us to help inform and empower voters and defend our democracy!

Email our Voter Service Director at voterservice@lwvcs.org, and let them know what you'd like to do.