[ Falcon Heights - Lauderdale - Little Canada - Maplewood - Roseville ]

Greetings, Fellow Leaguers!

Once again this year's Annual Meeting will be held on the Zoom platform.  In anticipation of the meeting we have prepared our Annual Report  This year has been a full year of Zoom meetings and no in-person contact with our colleagues.  While we miss seeing your faces, we have been able to advance the programs and issues important to all of us.  The report details all the activities we have participated in. 

The Annual Report can be viewed here. The action items for this year's meeting consist of:

The Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues of Women Voters (CMAL) 2021 Annual Meeting and Program will be held on May 8, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Program guest speakers: Anoka County Commissioner Mandy Meisner and Ramsey County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt. Topic: County Government Visibility and Accountability. The business meeting will follow immediately after the program.

LWVMN Firearms Update Study Committee presents speaker Joshua Horwitz, J.D., Executive Director of The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence in Washington D.C and co-author of Guns, Democracy and the Insurrectionist Idea. Horwitz speaks, via Zoom, on the topic: Domestic Terrorism in the U.S. and Minnesota. Also speaking is John Choi, Ramsey County Attorney who provides local perspective on firearm issues and how they’re dealt with. Presented April 27, 2021.  View on our YouTube channel.

Ramsey County Library has provided us with a link to the recording of this program.  This was a not-to-miss informative program.  Here is the link to view it. 

Join us on Tuesday, March 23 7:00 -8:30 PM for a discussion on Discrimination in Housing Opportunities:Redlining and Racial Covenants Then and Now. Co-hosted with Ramsey County Library Roseville, Kirsten Delegard, co-founder of Mapping Prejudice and Kari Collins, Ramsey County Community and Economic Development Director will help us understand how racial covenants were used in the past to discriminate, how the impacts of this discrimination still manifest today and what current barriers to equitable home ownership may be.

Paul Huffman, our presenter, made a pdf of his PowerPoint presentation available to us.  You will find it here.  If you were unable to attend the event life, you can view a recording of the event made by Ramsey County Library.  Click on this link.

Join us for this presentation where Paul Huffman, LWVMN Redistricting Coordinator, will give an overview of the legal requirements for redistricting, how it has historically been done in Minnesota, the potential for political manipulation and how Minnesotans can be involved in ensuring that the new maps are fair. This Zoom presentation on Tuesday, February 16, 7 - 8:30 pm is co-hosted by LWVRA and Ramsey County Library Roseville, Register at https://rclreads.bibliocommons.com/events/5fc672b41d94912f00a8ebb6

LWVMN Statement in Defense of Democracy

On January 14, LWV Minnesota sent a letter to our MN Legislative leaders, seeking truth related to our 2020 elections and consequences for the baseless claims of voter fraud continuing to be reiterated by various people within our legislature. We were especially concerned about the growing evidence of possible violence being directed at elected and government officials prior to inauguration, and about the ongoing use of the baseless claims of voter fraud as a reason for this insurrection behavior.

Was this a partisan act? Being nonpartisan means we don't support any specific party or candidate. Equally, it means that we don't abandon our well-studied positions based on a legislator's party. We will continue to work with all legislators, regardless of party, to advance free and fair elections. And we will continue to hold accountable all legislators, regardless of party, who undermine democracy.

The CMAL February 2021 newsletter can be found here. Information includes Metropolitan Council governance, the CMAL annual meeting; Minnesota's redistricting timeline, and positive changes to county government due to COVID-19.