March 2025
Editor Jennifer Bales
jbales@me.com
| Co-Presidents Susan Saunders and Peggy Leech | | By Peggy Leech and Susan Saunders | A few days ago, LWV members received a message from LWVUS, encouraging League members to join protests and defend democracy. Here are a couple of excerpts:
“This moment in democracy is quickly shifting, and direct threats to the US Constitution require that our work at the League shifts as well. Direct threats to the Constitution put our democracy in grave danger.”
“We greatly appreciate the energy and passion from League members in this moment. The spirit to act and fight for our democracy is exactly the courage we need to defend our constitutional republic.”
LWVUS has a history of participating in protests. At the 2018 national convention in Chicago, delegates were given time to participate in the nationwide protests against family separation. At the 2022 convention in Denver, delegates joined in a protest about the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade.
On March 1, Peggy Leech and her mom, Mary Leech (98 years old) and hundreds of others participated in a protest in Superior. It was very uplifting for all who attended, and for hundreds who drove by and honked. Plus, it was a beautiful day to be outside!
LWVBC has a button that says: “Marching is Not Enough. VOTE”. It will be a while before our next elections, but we can all participate in democracy in the meantime by speaking out, whether in protests, contacting our elected officials, or participating in economic boycotts. Just like voting, the acts of millions of people add up to a big message.
Peggy Leech and Susan Saunders
|  | | A protester at the LWVUS convention in 2018 protesting family separation |
 | | LWVBC member Peggy Leech and her mother protesting non-elected Elon Musk's unconstitutional activities |
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 | | LWVBC member Jennifer Bales protesting non-elected Elon Musk's unconstitutional activities |
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Attend a Meeting on League Consensus
Judiciary Study and Religious Freedom Study | These meetings will allow you to participate in the consensus process for the LWVUS Federal Judiciary Study, and vote on whether or not to adopt the LWVCO Religious Freedom Study proposed position.
Articles describing the background and procedures for each of these studies are found below in this newsletter.
Register for one of these meetings. If you aren't able to attend in person, a Zoom link will be provided to attendees. | Connect with League Members Across Colorado, Share Concerns, and Learn How to Help Preserve Our Democracy
| LWVCO is hosting Zoom meetings on Fridays at noon called League Interlock. I attended the February 21st call along with a few fellow Boulder County members. There were members from across Colorado attending, including a few new members looking to connect, learn more about the League and swap ideas on actions we can take.
Whether you’re a new member or have been with us for decades, consider joining a call. The calls are advertised each week in the LWVCO newsletter. If you’re not receiving these newsletters, sign up here. They often have links to actions you can take. The Feb 21st newsletter included links to write to Senators & US Representatives urging them to to protect Medicaid funding, support Ukraine, and oppose cuts to safety net programs.
Or, if you don’t want yet another email in your inbox, register for the calls via the LWVCO Event Calendar. Registration is required and you must be signed in to register. There is no fee. | Counted Out - Math is Power
|  | Counted Out shows us the power of math in our society, our economy, and our democracy.
Sunday, March 9, 2025, 2:00 PM until 4:00 PM
Longmont Museum
400 Quail Road
Longmont, CO 80501
The League of Women Voters of Boulder County, in partnership with the Longmont Museum and Longmont Public Media, is pleased to present a free screening of Counted Out on Sunday, March 9, 2025, starting at 2pm. A short discussion will follow from 3:30-4pm. The screening will take place at the Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road in Longmont. Registration is recommended. Please Register Here. There will be simultaneous Spanish interpretation available for both the movie and the discussion.
About Counted Out: In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get — all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice.
But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy — whether we can speak the language of math — is a critical determinant of social and economic power.
It’s critical to understand how the impact of math runs throughout our electoral process in ways most of us never notice — from gerrymandered voting districts and AI-created political ads to ballot measures and candidate choices.
Counted Out shows us the power of math that undergirds our democracy. Who holds that power? Who doesn’t? And how can we all speak the language of math to fully participate in a world that belongs to everyone?
Please join us on March 9th in Longmont. Learn more at countedoutfilm.com.
| Updates on Proportional Representation (PR) for
City Councils and Boards of County Commissioners | Note: If you got waylaid by the bad link while trying to read our February Voter article, you can read the complete PR Article here.
Proportional representation (PR) educational and legislative efforts continue apace. The only PR method currently allowed in CO statute is Single Transferable Vote (STV), aka Proportional Ranked Choice Voting (pRCV). LWV of Maine has just completed a study on pRCV which is available at https://www.lwvme.org/pRCV.
Here’s the latest state and local news!
Counties with 250,000 People – Colorado HB25-1265
Boulder and Longmont City Councils – Petitions Requesting a Study Session
| | Read the rest of the PR Update Article here. | The Bias Inside Us Smithsonian Tour | | Bias is an innate human trait; we all have it. ... The Bias Inside Us Tour offers an opportunity to learn how to challenge bias in the world through awareness of one’s own bias. | Positions For Action Meetings Summary | The LWVBC 2025 Positions For Action meetings were virtually on Sunday, February 9th and Thursday, February 13th. There were 26 members in attendance, not counting members at both meetings twice.
Holly Monkman introduced the purpose of the meeting, reviewed League terminology, and gave examples of the actions we take based upon League positions.
Study Team members Liz Black and Celeste Landry provided updates on 3 studies:
(1) County Commissioners Election Structure
(2) Timing and Turnout of Local Elections. If this topic is of interest and you’d like to help out, please contact Liz Black.
(3) LWVCO Study - Primary Election Reform
The meetings resulted in the following: | ● Consensus to retain all local positions
● Consensus to retain all state positions
● No new studies were proposed for either LWVCO or LWVBC
● Agreement to close the LWVBC study regarding the election structure for county commissioners with no study report or proposed position
| Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan
“Yellow envelopes”
| If you see a yellow envelope in the mail, it might be an invite to receive $1,000 for your time to serve on the first-ever formal group of residents to discuss a Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update. Boulder Valley includes the city of Boulder and within a 3-mile radius outside city limits.
Officials want to put together a 48-member group to consider how to create more “15-minute neighborhoods” in the Boulder Valley — locales where community members can achieve daily tasks within a 15-minute walk, roll or bike ride. Residents in the group will hear about topics such as land use, transportation, housing and infrastructure during seven sessions on Saturdays from May and October.
Whether or not you received an invitation, you can apply here by March 21. Those who are selected will be notified by April 4.
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By Susan Curtis
Membership count: 203 | | | Welcome to these new members who joined in February: Melanie Stone, Elizabeth Merckel, Sharon Flynn and Christi Dermann. We are so happy you have joined us!
Merit Award Nominations Due March 31
Each year at our Annual Meeting, LWVBC honors outstanding members for their
contributions to the League. In addition, a Community Partner is honored for their
support and partnership with LWVBC. The merit award categories with definitions are: |
- LWVBC Community Partner of the year—Boulder County corporation, organization or individual who advances LWVBC goals. and is a true partner to LWVBC. The Community Partner award may be given to a non-league member.
- LWVBC Member of the year—In recognition of outstanding service to LWVBC
- LWVBC Team Leader of the year—Issue or operations leader in recognition of outstanding service to LWVBC
- LWVBC Team Member of the year—Issue or operations team member in recognition of outstanding contributions to a LWVBC team
- LWVBC Emerging Leader of the year—A member who has been with the League less than three years who steps up to an important leadership role in LWVBC
| Use the following link to nominate those members and community partners you believe we should recognize for their contributions to LWVBC. You may nominate as many members and partners as you wish. There is no limit on nominations. The deadline to submit nominations is March 31, 2025. Awards will be presented at the Annual Meeting May 31.
2025 Merit Awards form
Student Scholarship Applications Due April 1
Once again, LWVBC is offering a $500 scholarship to an active LWVBC student members. All student members were individually contacted by email by Susan Curtis, Membership Director, on January 19, regarding the scholarship. The criteria for selection and the application were attached to the email invitation to apply. The deadline for submitting the application to membershipdirector@lwvbc.org is April 1, 2025. The scholarship will be awarded at the Annual Meeting May 31. For questions regarding the scholarship and application process, contact membershipdirector@lwvbc.org.
Some Bumps in the Road!
As you may have seen on our website LWVBC.org, the February rollout of the new LWV membership system has hit some bumps in the road. The good news is that you can get set up on the new system portal.lwv.org, and the system can process your join or renewal.
The following email messages have been delayed:
- Invitations to the new system
- Reminder emails to renew your membership
- Confirmation emails for join, renewal, and donations in the new system.
Please bear with us as we work around these issues. As always, we truly value your continued support of our League.
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Participate in the Consensus Meetings | As reported in earlier Voter articles, the National League adopted a “study leading to consensus” at their Convention last summer. Materials were produced and now it is time for local leagues to discuss and reach consensus. Excellent policy briefs can be found here. There are brief articles on aspects of the study. They are a quick read and will be very helpful to prepare for discussion.
Please attend one of the following LWVBC meetings to make your voice heard. If you don’t want to attend in-person, a link to attend virtually will be provided after you have registered. Non-members are welcome to listen in, but may not participate in the discussion.
Thursday, March 13th, 6 - 8pm in Louisville
Sunday, March 16th, 2 - 4pm in Boulder
Doors open at 6pm and 2pm for light refreshments and social time. The meetings will start promptly at 6:30pm and 2:30pm respectively.
Local Leagues are meeting in March/April to discuss the study and respond to 12 consensus statements, determining if they agree or not and how strongly. Each Local League will send LWVUS one collective response. Then the study committee will craft a position statement based upon the responses and present the position statement to the LWVUS Board for a vote in May. The position is scheduled to be presented at Council June 26-28th.
Please note, we will also be discussing and voting on the proposed LWVCO Religious Freedom position at these meetings. More info is available in the LWVCO Religious Freedom Study article in this Voter.
You are the League of Women Voters! Help guide our advocacy.
| LWVCO Religious Freedom Study
Vote on whether or not to adopt the proposed position | The LWVCO Religious Freedom Study Report was finalized on March 1st, after two months of presentations and discussions to Local Leagues around the state. Many thanks to Jeff Oster of the Gunnison LWV and all the study team members for all their time & effort on this study.
LWVBC hosted Jeff at a hybrid meeting held at Frasier Meadows on January 22nd. LWVBC members also took a few moments to discuss the study and provide feedback to the study team during the Positions for Action meetings held virtually on Feb 9th & 13th. A final statewide virtual presentation was hosted by LWVCO on Feb 25th.
The study team gathered feedback & discussion points from members across the state to revise the study report. To read the final report, you must first login to LWVCO then click here or go to Members > Studies and Concurrences to find the study webpage. Please take a few moments to read the report & proposed position in preparation for our final discussion and vote.
Please attend one of the following meetings to make your voice heard. If you don’t want to attend in-person, a link to attend virtually will be provided after you have registered. Non-members are welcome to listen in, but may not participate in the discussion or cast a vote.
Thursday, March 13th, 6 - 8pm in Louisville
Sunday, March 16th, 2 - 4pm in Boulder
Doors open at 6pm and 2pm for light refreshments and social time. The meetings will start promptly at 6:30pm and 2:30pm respectively.
Local Leagues will debate this proposal with their members and cast one collective vote. A simple majority is required for approval. LWVCO will tally Local League votes weighted by the number of members in the Local League.
Please note, we will also be discussing and seeking consensus on the LWVUS Judiciary Study at these meetings. More info is available in the LWVUS Federal Judiciary Study article in this Voter.
You are the League of Women Voters! Help guide our advocacy.
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