BY KEELIN EVERLY-LANG for WEEKLY VOLCANO 10/17/25 |
In a volatile and politically fractured election year, the nonpartisan League of Women Voters (LWV) is a rare example of political activism based on research and a focus on the common good rather than political affiliation. Members of the local Tacoma/Pierce County chapter host candidate forums, observe and report at city council meetings, educate voters, and advocate for voting access.
In an upcoming community forum from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, members will share information answering the question “How do the federal government’s changes affect Washington State residents?” The event will take place at the South Tacoma Library, located at 3411 S. 56th St. in Tacoma.
At another event, in partnership with the Junior League of Tacoma, they’ll host a Bubbles and Ballots webinar where participants can learn about Washington’s statewide ballot measures and more. This one will run from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19, at the Union Club in Tacoma or online.
Members also visit civics classrooms and create educational materials to teach youth in the community.
“Our priorities are the same every election cycle. It’s to get people out to vote, to educate voters, and to register voters,” co-president-elect of the local chapter Carolyn Edmonds told the Weekly Volcano. She shares the role with Ruth Ann Hatchett.
Today the Tacoma/Pierce County chapter “encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and, after member study and agreement, works to influence public policy through education and advocacy,” according to their website.
The organization has been around for more than 100 years, having been founded in 1920. So how does an organization stay politically engaged but nonpartisan for all that time? Their process focuses on rigorous study and group consensus through discussion. They never endorse individual candidates, but they will take a stance on certain issues or legislation after rigorous study.
Rather than using a political party’s stance to determine what to support, the League activates its vast network of members for deep research and discussion to evaluate how well it aligns with values around democracy and voter access.
In order to support an issue, it has to go through their process to develop a position. This can take a year or more and begins with a study. “That’s where members of the study group do amazing research into the topic, and then they’ll come up with conclusions,” Edmonds said.
Next, the whole study is sent to the local leagues for consensus. Local leagues hold meetings and discuss whether they support the conclusions of the study group, then make a recommendation to the state board.
One local example is the Washington LWV decision to oppose Initiative to the Legislature 126. While this initiative is described as a way to keep noncitizens from voting, the LWV found that “besides being burdensome to eligible voters and costly for counties to utilize, the proposals are not necessary because voting by noncitizens is negligible.” They also found that “these proposals would disenfranchise a significant number of persons who are legally eligible to cast a ballot” (https://lwvwa.org/IL26-126).
Some of these decisions are also based on existing positions that the LWV has taken in the past. They oppose this one because one of their most important tenets is to avoid barriers to voting. In their study of this initiative, they found that ballots being tossed out because signatures don’t match—as well as misinformation and disinformation—have bigger impacts than noncitizens voting.
In this challenging information ecosystem, where it is hard to know what is true, Edmonds said, “More than anything else, there’s such division within our country right now that it’s very easy to get a sound bite and react to it negatively and then want to go out and start protesting.”
That said, peaceful protest can be an important tool as well, Edmonds said. The local League held a sign-making event just a few days before they spoke to the Volcano and will be represented at the upcoming No Kings protest.
What it really comes down to is asking, “What was the source of that sound bite? What was the context of the sound bite? Do you need to do any other research on the issue it’s regarding? And what’s a thoughtful response, and to whom would that thoughtful response be directed to be most effective?”
Sometimes the most effective thing might be educating yourself on your local elections and voting down the ballot, and the LWV has a wide variety of resources to do just that.
Aside from the upcoming events already mentioned, the local chapter is hosting several candidate forums before the election on Nov. 4.
Candidates Forums on Zoom
* 6 p.m., Thu., Oct. 16, CRC Dist. 7, Pos. 2 https://bit.ly/42Fx8Du
* 6 p.m., Mon., Oct. 20, CRC Dist. 4, Pos. 1, 2 & 3 https://bit.ly/42ECJtE
* 7:30 p.m., Mon., Oct. 20, Tacoma School Board, Pos. 1 https://bit.ly/3KQsQTF
* 6 p.m., Tues., Oct. 21, CRC Dist. 6, Pos. 1 & 2 https://bit.ly/4h6ewlS
* 7:30 p.m., Thu., Oct. 23, CRC Dist. 2, Pos. 2 https://bit.ly/4hc0MpY
