Notes and News

League of Women Voters
of Camden County

A non-partisan organization, promoting political responsibility through informed and active participation in government.

League Notes and News - new topic weekly!

This page has been discontinued due to lack of evident interest. It could return, if a number of people who have it bookmarked wrote and asked for it! 12-19-09

Request for your feedback. I've been doing these "notes" since May 09, but I have no good way to track interest in them. If you are reading the notes and finding them interesting, please let me know. Send an e-mail to lwvcc@hotmail.com. Thanks! 11-15-09.

New Jersey will soon have its first Lieutenant Governor! While the LWVNJ was not entirely happy with the law that created the position, the League agreed that having a Lieutenant Governor is a big improvement over the previous system, in which legislators such as the Senate President were forced to take over for the Governor, sometimes for short periods of time. Read about the LWVNJ's position here. Posted 11-7-09.

November 3 was election day! Women first obtained the right to vote in some elections over 100 years ago: in 1869, in the territory of Wyoming. Wyoming later became the first state to grant women the right to vote in all elections (1890). To see more women's history, especially voting rights, visit the timeline at Living the Legacy, sponsored by the National Women's History Project. 10-31-09.

The LWVCC registers voters after the Naturalization Ceremony in Camden. We've been doing this for years, under the leadership of Bobbie Porter. What better first step for new citizens than registering to vote? -- And the League is there! The next ceremony is Nov 17 at 10 a.m.. Contact us if you'd like to volunteer. 10-25-09.

The LWVNJ is again working with the ACLU to monitor elections in 2009. Togther they provided phone hotlines, legal support in courtrooms, and poll monitors at more than 100 polling locations in 2008. You can read a report (in pdf format) about our joint voter protection efforts in the 2008 elections here. If you'd like to volunteer in 2009, click HERE. Posted 10-17-09

The League is a membership organization. It is special to its members because it offers the opportunity to get involved in a wide array of interesting activities (voter registration, workshops, study committees, contacting legislators, moderating and time keeping for debates, etc...) that touch on an equally wide array of topics (environment, health, good government, voting, women's rights, civil liberties, and more). 10-11-09

Tour of NJ American Water Sept 30: About 25 members and friends of the LWVCC heard a presentation and took a tour of the Regional Treatment Plant in Delran. The October Voter will have a report, when it appears in a few weeks . An interesting tidbit -- the days of a water meter reader actually coming into your yard are numbered. The future (and already much of current practice) is sophisticated electronic meters that transmit their readings to a vehicle driving down the street. 10-4-09

Pride of Lions: The LWVNJ's historic office building in Trenton is known as the "Pride of Lions" because there are two artistic lion heads on the wall flanking the entrance to the building. 9-27-09

Absentee ballots have been replaced by "mail in" ballots as of June 2009, when the "Vote by Mail" law was enacted, changing the rules for what was formerly known as the absentee ballot. See the rules for voting by mail at our voting page. 9-20-09

No League gubernatorial debate this year? That's what it looks like. Shame on the candidates. Governor Jon Corzine says he's too busy. Challenger Chris Christie will only debate if Corzine does. In other words, he won't debate his independent opponent Chris Daggett unless Corzine is also there. Too bad. Maybe if the two of them debated, the governor would be afraid to be left out! Oh, well. There will be other debates, but probably not a *League* debate. Read the LWVNJ's comments here. 9-13-09

Members at Large: Most League members in New Jersey belong to a local League, but some do not. State members-at-large usually live in areas that do not have a local League. They are full members of the state and national Leagues, although they miss out on the special value of working with other League members at the local level. 9-6-09

Camden County Open Space Trust Fund of 1998: In November, 1998 the citizens of Camden County overwhelmingly approved the ballot referendum on the Open Space Trust Fund. Promotion of this referendum was undertaken by the League and many other groups working in the “Save Open Space” (SOS) coalition. For several years after the referendum was approved, a League member sat on the Open Space Trust Fund Advisory Committee, which was set up to decide how to allocate the money. 8-29-09

Did you know? The LWV studies and takes positions on issues, but we never support candidates for office, or parties. We take our nonpartisanship so seriously that a state or local League board member who wants to be active in partisan politics will have to resign from the board. 8-23-09

The LWVCC provides moderators and time keepers for a number of forums each year. It is a community service as well as a fund raiser for the League. More trained moderators would be very welcome. Are you interested? Grow your skills! Let us know... Members only. Posted 8-16-09

The League supports public financing of elections. We believe that public financing is the best way to remove the effect of special interests from politics. A small investment in public funding could pay huge dividends if it results in legislators who don't need to give extra attention to potential sources of funds for their next campaign. 7-31-09

Members are welcome to attend LWV of Camden County board meetings. Come out and see what we do! But call first, in case the location is changed. The web site is generally up to date, but will not show emergency changes or cancellations. 7-25-09

Did you know? Most counties in New Jersey are governed by "Freeholders". The county under this form of government has very little authority -- it basically runs programs and provides services. By contrast, your municipality can pass ordinances that tell you what to do. Counties can not. Visit the Camden County website and learn more about your county. 7-18-09

The LWVUS is a strong supporter of the United Nations. We are registered with the UN as an NGO (non-governmental organization) and we have official UN observers who attend regular briefings and help keep the LWV up to date on international issues. 7-3-09

Did you know that three different officials and boards have a role in elections in Camden County? We have a County Clerk, a Superintendent of Elections, and a Board of Elections. Find out a bit about them, and links to their web pages at the LWVCC links page here. 6-28-09.

The LWVCC educates voters in multiple ways. In the past League year, we answered over 75 citizen inquiries on our voice mail (856-795-7878) and responded to over 20 requests on our e-mail account (lwvcc@hotmail.com). Some of these requests led to the eight forums we moderated during that time frame. Others provided information on voting or related topics. 6-7-09

The LWV of New Jersey now has a position on voting rights for parolees and probationers. It says (in part), "The League of Women Voters of New Jersey supports restoring voting rights to all parolees and probationers who are U.S. citizens". It was adopted after study and consensus in early 2009. 5-31-09

Did you know that five (yes, 5!) members of the LWVCC are working at the LWVNJ level? We have 3 state board members (Anne Maiese - President, Ed Gracely - Secretary, and Ann Saunders - Director). In addition, Dottie Dunfee is the NJ Voter Editor (off board) and Ann Koopman is once again our Budget Director (off board). 5-16-09

Did you know that the LWVCC received the Winona M. Lipman Innovation Award in March 2008 for our Running & Winning program? Here is a picture of our proud local League members receiving the award . You can read more about the award and see more pictures in the April 2008 LWVCC Voter, page 7. Visit the Running & Winning web page to learn more about it. 5-16-09