| January 2024 Volume 51 No.6 | | Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy. | | | __________________________________ | | Warmest Wishes for a Fantastic and Successful 2024!
From LWV Cupertino-Sunnyvale to all its members and supporters | __________________________________ | |
2024 – Get ready for a monumental election year!
We hope you enjoyed the holiday season and are excited about 2024.
2024 will bring:
· Significant opportunity for democratic participation,
· Potential to drive significant change,
· Opportunity to participate diverse political discourse, and the
Ability to impact important issues. | | | Your Impact
You will have the opportunity to cast your vote and express your voice in March and November. You also have the opportunity, through our League, to help educate other voters through your work on candidate forums and pro-con presentations. Please consider expanding your reach by working with our Voter Service group.
Shift to Vote 411
As previously mentioned, we are actively transitioning from Voters Edge to Vote 411. Please start exploring about and spreading the word on the new website, click here.
FUHSD districting
The districting efforts are underway. The districts are looking for more input on the submitted maps. If you live in the Fremont Union High School District, please take the time to review the map. You can make comments directly to FUHSD at https://www.fuhsd.org/newsroom/trustee-areas/maps (click on the button that says Maptitude Mapping Tool) or contact us at president@lwvcs.org.
March 5, 2024 is the Primary Election.
Our League will participate in the following forums:
· US Congressional District 17, and
· State Assembly District 26.
These two races will be actively contested with many candidates are running. If you’d like to participate, please contact Pam Anderson at VoterService@LWVCS.org.
There will only be one statewide ballot measure, Proposition 1. It is a major overhaul of the Mental Health Act in CA. This ballot measure proposes much stronger involuntary commitment provisions. Helping people through a mental health crisis presents a critical balance of preserving an individual’s rights with keeping them safe. Studying the details of this ballot measure will be important.
Our mission is to educate voters and make democracy work. We look forward to working with you on this mission throughout 2024.
Elaine & Tracey, Co-Presidents | __________________________________ | __________________________________ |
- LWVCS OAT Meeting, Jan. 10, 2024 at 3pm
- LWVCS Oct. Board Meeting - Jan. 15, 7pm
- LWVCS Coffee Hour - Jan. 18, 11-12, join here
- LWVCS Communications Committee Meeting - Jan. 18, 3pm
- LWV Santa Clara County Civil Discourse Committee - Jan. 22, 3pm, join here
- LWV SCC CD Event: BS and the Brain - Can We Trust Our Elections? with Tommy Gong, Register here.
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Voter Service Updates! | | NPP (No Party Preference) Choices | __________________________________ | 2024 Primary Election - More Info Coming Soon!
The California Primary Election is on March 5, 2024. This is the first time that California will participate in Super Tuesday. In addition to the presidential primary, this election will also include primary elections for US Senate, US Congressional District 17, State Senate District 13, State Assembly District 26, and County Supervisor Seats 3 and 5. Sunnyvale School District (SESD) will also vote on Measure C, a $214 million school bond to continue the renovation and modernization of all district schools.
The Voter Services team for LWVCS and other Santa Clara County Leagues are in the process of planning Candidate Forums and more information will be coming soon. Keep an eye on our election webpage: www.lwvcs.org/Election-Info
Finally, LWV California has announced that, starting with the 2024 Primary, Vote411.org will replace VotersEdge.org as our primary Voter Information resource. Once current election information is available, you will be able to see information for the candidates on your ballot by going to www.vote411.org/ballot and entering your address. | __________________________________ |
California Primary – March 5, 2024 – Get the Ballot You Want
2024 is the first time that California will participate in Super Tuesday. Do you know which presidential candidates will appear on your ballot?
In 2011, California adopted the “Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act”. As a result, in elections for U.S. congressional offices, state constitutional offices and state legislative offices all candidates are listed on one ballot and only the top two vote-getters– regardless of party preference - move on to the general election.
The only elections where the list of candidates will be specific to a political party are the offices of U.S. President and county central committee. So, how can you be sure to get the ballot that you want?
· Go to sccvote.sccgov.org to check that you are registered to vote and to see if you are registered with a political party.
· If you are registered with a party, the presidential candidates for that party will be on your ballot.
· If you are registered NPP (No Party Preference) your default ballot will not have presidential candidates. If you want to vote for a presidential candidate, you can take one of the steps below.
· To vote for a candidate from the American Independent, Democratic, or Libertarian Party, you need to request a crossover ballot. The ROV will send NPP voters a Cross-Over Ballot Notice and Application with instructions about how to do this.
· To vote for a candidate from the Green, Peace & Freedom, or Republican Party, go to sccvote.sccgov.org and re-register as a member of that party.
The deadline to register to vote is February 19, 2024 and the deadline to request a crossover ballot is February 20, 2024. If you miss these deadlines, you can still request a conditional ballot on or before March 5 at the Registrar of Voters or at any vote center.
For more information go to the SCC ROV website: https://sccvote.sccgov.org/elections/march-5-2024-presidential-primary-election or the CA Secretary of State website: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-info/how-vote-president
| __________________________________ | | It's LWVCS Voter Service Time Again!
The next Voter Service meeting will be
Monday, January 8 at 7:30pm:
Zoom Link here. Mtg ID: 89868301655
Passcode: 463910
Subsequent meetings are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Jan 16 and Monday, Jan 22 @ 7:30. Same Zoom link as above.
Voter Service Chair, Pam Anderson | | | __________________________________ | Why Volunteer? 
Volunteering with the League is a great way to give back to your community. We can all feel a desire to "do something" to help solve the problems we see in the world. In the League, we take action to influence public policy and to educate and engage voters. Are you interested in joining our efforts? We'd love to have you.
What can I do?
- Register and turn out voters by:
- joining us to register voters at local events
- helping with GOTV campaigns
- draft GOTV flyers
- Educate the electorate by:
- assisting with candidate forums
- researching ballot measures
- help plan educational speaker events
- Advocate for local policy by:
- studying local issues (housing, climate, water, etc.)
- draft advocacy correspondence for voter registration and voting
- Engage young voters and future voters by:
- participating in school board meetings
- attending certain school events
- Help with the nuts & bolts by:
- drafting press releases or event recaps, posting on social media, creating graphics, preparing action alerts
- Sign me up here!
| __________________________________ | LWVCS Coffee Hour -Special Guest Speaker from Iryna of Ukraine of UNWLA
Join Iryna at our regular third Thursday, January 18th Coffee Hour at 11am here
Her comments will include the following topics:
Introduction of UNWLA Branch 107 and a brief history of the organization celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2024.
A brief history of Ukraine with a focus on the roots of the genocidal pattern of the current invasion by Russia, Holodomor, and suppression of Ukrainian culture. For more detailed information, please refer to this article.
Ukrainian and Russian: Two Separate Languages and Peoples - peoples
How you can help and Q&A
We currently ask all our allies and people, who support Ukraine to advocate for supplemental aid for Ukraine.
| | | __________________________________ |
Mis/Disinformation: How to Recognize and Respond To It
Are you feeling overwhelmed by the preponderance of mis- and disinformation, the role of AI and the potential effects on the 2024 election? Join our virtual Community Conversation, January 18, 4:00 - 5:30 pm.
This webinar will explore these phenomena, how falsehoods spread in today's information ecosystem and how we all can avoid them, respond, and deepen our capacity for constructive civil discourse.
Deanna Troust, founder of Truth in Common, will outline a broader social change approach for addressing this pervasive issue that includes learnings from her workshop series, recent research and skills each of us can employ at work and at home.
Watch for sign-up information for this event, coming soon!
Community Conversations are a joint project of the Contra Costa County Library, LWV Diablo Valley and LWV West Contra Costa County, and CCTV.
In the meantime, you may want to watch our previous Community Conversation on this topic,
| __________________________________ | | FUHSD Districting Update
Fremont Union High School District continues to make progress on their transition to Trustee Area elections. In December, the Community Trustee Area Districting Committee (CTAD) held three community outreach meetings, where they also provided training on Maptitude, the tool the public can used to submit proposed Trustee Area maps. In January, the CTAD will focus on additional community outreach, and the deadline for the public to submit proposed maps is January 31.
For the latest updates and a link to the mapping tool, go to https://www.fuhsd.org/newsroom/trustee-areas. | LWV National - LWVUS
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YOUR VOTE MATTERS
- It promotes immigration reform, including family reunification and political asylum
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| Framing the Future ZOOMS - Register to attend monthly Framing the Future Office Hours hosted by LWVUS - third Wednesday of the month at 1pm. |
| __________________________________ | | LWV Santa Clara County
Civil Discourse Committee
Our regular monthly meetings to update events and plan our 2023 program have begun!
Our upcoming program series is titled "BS and the Brain - Mis and Disinformation - Can You Trust Our Elections?" -with Tommy Gong
Help us with future event planning!
Join our next meeting January 22, 3pm here
| | | __________________________________ |  | LWC Bay Area - LWVBA
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Health Equity Series
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Legislating Health Event - Rescheduled until late 2024 due to Election issues.
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February Event: Death vs. Dollars: Chronic Health Issues – Long COVID, Lyme & Tick Borne Diseases, Asthma
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Death vs. Dollars: How Can We Deal with Chronic Disease – Long COVID, Lyme & Tick-Borne Diseases, Asthma?
Learn from the experts on Feb. 12, 2024 at noon via ZOOM here
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Our expert speakers are Wendy Adams who spent 20 years in the biotechnology industry, directing business strategy and corporate development for companies working in infectious disease, cancer, and autoimmunity. Since 2020, Wendy has served as a consumer programmatic reviewer for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Tick-Borne Disease Research Program (TBDRP). She is joined by Dr. Carla Kuon. Dr. Kuon is an integrative medicine faculty member at UCSF with over 20 years in the field and author of “The Long Covid Solution”. Our speakers will explore the causes and related issues and treatments and respond to questions.
- Debrief on BAHFA program - LWVBA Video BAHFA with Kate Hartley: BAHFA
- Save the Date - Bay Area League Day - "Connecting the Dots: Building Healthy Communities" March 9, 2024
| __________________________________ | Related Organization Events:
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LWV Cupertino-Sunnyvale OATs Update:
Online Access Team (OAT)
OAT is gearing up to support our Voter Service Committee in their 2024 election year efforts. Hard to believe the Primaries are only three months away! Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
If you haven’t looked lately, check out the info on our Elected Officials page on the LWVCS website!
In February we hope to help set up our League’s first ‘hybrid’ session, combining
- a live audience
- with a Zoom broadcast
- then posting it to our LWVCS YouTube channel
- with links to that on our website
We’d welcome help from anyone who has experience doing any of that.
If you’re interested in the media/computer side of supporting the work of the League, please email our team leader, Marilyn Sherry: online@lwvcs.org
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Save the Date! We're going to do it again - prepare to mingle & meet with the Electeds at our Mar 10 Meet & Greet at BJ's in Cupertino.
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Youth Voter Toolkit link here
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From the Santa Clara County Library:
Have you checked out your library programs lately – lots going on!
Programs for youth, teens, and even adults. Just like LWVCS, they are looking for volunteers – for tutoring who are willing to provide homework help to students in grades K-6 in the topics of Math, Science, and English.
Take a peek here.
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Lunch w/San Jose Santa Clara League Sheriff Jonsen Interview:
View this engaging presentation and conversation with our new Sheriff of Santa Clara County.
You can see this video on the Lunch with League Archive page now.
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City Meeting Agenda
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City Council Meetings for January, 6:45pm
Agenda link here. Contact Phone: 408.777.3223
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Cupertino City Updates
| __________________________________ | __________________________________ |
Sunnyvale City Events Calendar - and More... here
Sunnyvale City Governance
- City Council Welcomes In-person Public Participation
- City of Sunnyvale Top 30 Project Summaries Project Summary List Has Valuable Updates On Priority Projects For Sunnyvale.
Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce Events
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LWV Cupertino-Sunnyvale
Board of Directors
Co-Presidents: Elaine Manley & Tracey Edwards
Secretary: Leigh Anne Gillis
Treasurer: Beth Claywell
Voter Service Director: Pam Anderson
Membership Director: Nina Wong-Dobkin
Online Access Team Director: Marilyn Sherry
Technical Services Director: Bruce Kendall
Online Events Coordinator: Debbie Timmers
Director at Large: Bill Wilson
Nominations Chair: Marieann Shovlin
| | | __________________________________ | LWV Cupertino-Sunnyvale Board Meeting Notes - December, 2023
- Judicial Review Project being reviewed
- Participated in Leadership Sunnyvale presentation
- FUHSD Districting - CTAD launched
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VotersEdge replaced by Vote411, the National voting information tool
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Next LWVCS Board meeting Jan. 15, 7pm. Via ZOOM.
January, 2024 Quote:
“Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood." Martin Luther King, Jr.
| __________________________________ | Elected Officials Representing Cupertino & Sunnyvale
For contact information and more detail visit:
| __________________________________ | Join the League of Women Voters
Voting membership in the League of Women Voters is open to men and women 16 years of age and beyond.
Annual Membership:
$100 Individual member
$50 for each additional member in the same household:
Free for full-time students at this time
| | | __________________________________ | | The Cupertino-Sunnyvale VOTER
Published 10 times a year by the
League of Women Voters of Cupertino-Sunnyvale.
This newsletter is posted on our website:
| | The LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
Permission is granted to reprint any part of this newsletter with credit to the League of Women Voters of Cupertino-Sunnyvale | | | __________________________________ |
League of Women Voters of Cupertino-Sunnyvale
PO Box 2923
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
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