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1998 LWVAL Council Meeting
Held in Montgomery

The League of Women Voters of Alabama held its 1998 Council Meeting in Montgomery on Saturday, April 25. Details soon!


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November declared
"Voter Registration Update Month"
in Alabama

In a press conference held in the state capitol on November 5, Gov. Fob James declared November as "Voter Registration Update Month." Secretary of State Jim Bennett presented details of the project to bring the Alabama's voter registration roles up to date. Also present were the State Registrar and representatives of most county registrars' offices. Our own Andi Summer, LWVAL 1st Vice President, well represented the League in this press conference explaining our vital role in the voter update effort. Other League representatives present were Sylvia Goldman of LWV Auburn and Jessie Tehranchi and Jean Johnson of LWV Greater Birmingham.

Leagues around the state have been actively assisting the Secretary of State's office this fall to update the voter rolls. Leaguers have held voter registration update drives at Walmarts, malls, college campuses, and other public places in support of this effort. Members are also distributing update cards to their business associates, organizations, and churches and synagogues. In doing this the League of Women Voters is not only helping to "clense" the roles, but also to educate the electorate in order to prevent misunderstanding and confusion on election day.

The massive project, mandated by the National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter Act), began in January as cards were mailed to registered voters throughout the state to ascertain whether filed name and address of the voter was correct. If correct, the recipiant did nothing. If incorrect, the voter made corrections and returned the card. The names on those cards which were returned as undeliverable were listed in a "suspense" file. A second postcard mailing followed. Those still on the inactive roll as they go to vote in the 1998 and 2000 elections will have to provide updated information at the polls in order to vote. After the year 2000, these suspended voters' names will be removed from the registration rolls entirely, and they will have to re-register before voting.

"Women in Politics" Conference in Review

Have you been under the impression that there are few women who are interested in delving into Alabama's political arena? If so, think again! For two days , Anne Permaloff and I were privileged to represent LWVAL and interact with numerous Alabama women who are taking this step. Along with the UAH Women's Studies Program, UAH Women's Studies Student Organization, Huntsville AAUW, and UAH Office of Multicultural Affairs, LWVAL co-sponsored the "Women in Politics: Access, Activity, Advancement" Conference held at UAH. on Nov. 14 and 15.

Keynote speakers were Cheryl Williams Scarboro, counselor to Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D. C., and Dr. Natalie Davis, professor of Political Science at Birmingham-Southern College. Each helped define the tone of the conference with their addresses on "Opportunities and Challenges Women Face Practicing Law and Working in the Securities" and "It's Time to Get Serious About Women in Politics".

The only problem in attending this well organized conference was deciding which concurrent sessions to attend. Distinguished women from many backgrounds shared their experience and advise in such areas as "surviving the good old boy network", women's rights under AL law, how to get appointed to boards, commission, and authorities, how to support women leaders, how to lobby effectively, the future of Alabama's young women, and , yes, even how to cope with (and come back from) a losing political effort. Session leaders included attorneys (private practice, district attorneys, judges (at city, county, and appellate levels), leaders of both Republican and Democratic Parties, a member of the AL House of Representatives, student body leaders, political science professors and a former university president, leaders in environmental and political activism, county commissioner, ... the list goes on and on.

Anne and I were most impressed with how many people there are in the Greater Huntsville area who wish to see a League of Women Voters back in their community. We supplied them with plenty of information from LWVAL and the LL's (especially Birmingham) to inspire their efforts. We are sure to get many LWV Members at Large from this conference - perhaps enough for critical mass to create a local League. We had a delightful time with loyal League member Joyce Ritter. With leaders such as Joyce who display such deep enthusiasm and dedication to LWV, we will have LWV Greater Huntsville very soon!

There is much work to be done to close the gender gap in Alabama's courts, legislatures, county commissions, city councils, executive branch, and on all boards, commissions, and authorities. And, remember, women will not be elected unless they first step forward to accept these challenges.

-- Jean Johnson --

LWV Greater Birmingham was pleased to host the LWVAL Board training session led by LWVUS Board members Marilyn Brill of Houston, TX, and Elizabeth Franks of Baton Rouge, LA on Saturday, Nov. 22, 1997. There was excellent attendance. Due to the geographic diversity of our LWVAL Board, almost every region of the state was represented.

Our morning began with a welcome and introduction of our guest instructors by LWVAL President Anne Permaloff. Following an overview by Marilyn and Elizabeth of the agenda, purpose, and goals of the meeting, the Board began its work by considering in detail both the strengths and concerns of the LWV. After this thorough self-examination which helped the Board identify its "gripes", we divided into groups to develop strategies to address the major concerns. Here "goals" were defined and specific action steps were identified to accomplish these goals.

Following lunch, discussion topics included Local League/National relationship, MAL and MAL Units, importance and means of promoting diversity, methods of increasing membership and visibility, and review of national resources available.

We want to thank Marilyn Brill and Elizabeth Franks for sharing their League expertise with us. They offered excellent leadership and a professional presentation. The result was a very successful training session for the LWVAL Board.

LWVALinfo :
League of Women Voters of Alabama
List Server

If you are a member of the League of Women Voters of Alabama, you should join, read and contribute to the new LWV Alabama List Server called LWVALinfo. It is a discussion group for League members in Alabama to share information, League news, and any other League related topics. Discussion of local League Program is particularly encouraged.

The automated server will forward your e-mail posts to all member addresses. Likewise, you will be able to read the posts of any other member. Thus, this is a fast and effective means of mass communication with our on-line members. On-line members can pass on information and discussion ideas to her/his fellow "un-plugged" members by conventional methods.

Many thanks to Andi Summer (LWV - Montgomery, LWVAL Cybercommunications Board Chair, and LWVALinfo list owner) for putting this together for us!

TO JOIN...

Send e-mail to:

In the body of the message, put only :

You are mailing your message to a computer, not a human, and anything in the message other than programmed commands will cause an error message to be generated. Your name will be forwarded for review (LWVAL membership). If approved, you'll be added to the list and sent instructions for using the list. Go ahead - get on board!

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