ABIGAIL JACOBSON
News Editor
As Election Day approaches, many students will be voting for the first time. With many important issues being brought up in the presidential debates, casting your vote is important. Being informed of the presidential candidates’ choice on those issues is just as important.
In Chautauqua County, a nonpartisan political organization called the League of Women Voters (LWV) is there to do just that. Nonpartisan means they do not support candidates or certain political parties.
LWV chapters exist throughout the United States and here in New York, specifically in Chautauqua County. Mary Croxton, president of the Chautauqua County LWV and on the board of New York State LWV, discussed the history.
“In 1920, when the 19th Amendment was passed, the League of Women Voters in Chicago organized [itself] as a … league… basically to help women with their new ability to vote,” Croxton said.
Croxton mentioned that this helped women learn how to register to vote, how to get information about voting and much more. The Chautauqua County LWV focuses on supporting legislation, ranging from child care to women’s health to climate issues, and tries to inform the surrounding community about these legislations.
LWV also used to do candidate forums. Croxton mentioned, “candidate forums [are in reference to] the old-fashioned debate … The League of Women Voters on a national level, up until, I do believe it was Reagan, we used to conduct all the debates on TV.
“…Apparently, they stopped doing it because the candidates themselves were trying to influence what questions could be asked, and the league just said, ‘No, this is a … nonpartisan group … We don’t want to be biased or be told that … we have to conduct this forum in a certain way.’”
Because of this, Croxton mentioned how they now do this locally, countywide and statewide. However, according to Croxton, some candidates have said no to these candidate forums.
LWV also likes to help out school boards in Chautauqua County and talk about county issues, such as the “effort to make roads, streets, sidewalks available for [not only] all modes of transportation, but to make them safe.”
According to Croxton, the LWV’s main focus is on voter registration. “We’ve done many voter registration drives on the campus [and] working with the American Democracy Project, which is a nonpartisan group as well,” she said.
LWV goes into areas of Chautauqua County that may need to be informed about certain issues. LWV also has Spanish-speaking individuals who distribute information to the Spanish-speaking population in Chautauqua County.
Croxton wanted to tell students who live on campus to go out and vote early. Early voting starts on Oct. 26 if you are registered in Chautauqua County.
LWV will be on campus from Oct. 21 to Oct. 25 in the Cranston Marché and in University Commons with voter registration.
For more information regarding LWV of Chautauqua County, you can visit their website: https://my.lwv.org/new-york/chautauqua-county/about.