Margaret Noel, Author at League of Women Voters of Portland

Vote411 candidate & measure info

NONPARTISAN INFORMATION FOR THE 2020 PRIMARY ELECTION

Look on VOTE411.org for answers to questions from the the candidates running in Oregon and in Multnomah County. The VOTE411.org website also has videos about some candidates. Plus there are links to the League’s Video Voters’ Guide interviews with 66 of the candidates. You can also read about the three ballot measures that will be on Multnomah County voters’ ballots. In addition, there’s information about how to register to vote in Oregon and tips for first time voters. Just go to the menu at the top left of the VOTE411 website, select Oregon, and check it out!

Remember in Oregon we vote by mail, and this year the postage is pre-paid. You don’t even need to buy a stamp.

Make sure you are registered!

If you are a first-time voter, make sure you register to vote by Tuesday, April 28. That’s also the deadline for choosing a political party or changing your party, so you can vote in the Primary for candidates running as Republicans or Democrats. To make sure you are registered, you can check your registration on vote411.org.

Make vote411.org your go-to source for nonpartisan election information.

Voting and COVID-19

During this COVID-19 emergency, voters should be prepared to avoid voting in person. Fortunately we have Vote-by-Mail in Oregon, so you don’t have to stand in line! Please remember to register early or update your registration as soon as you can. The deadline to register to vote is April 28. For more information about registering to vote in Multnomah County, click here.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the League of Women Voters will be providing online information about candidates and measures via Vote411.org and on this website.

We will produce printed voters’ guides and distribute them widely throughout the county. In addition, we will produce and post online video recordings of candidate interviews for a Video Voters’ Guide. Stay tuned!

Protect Elections & Your Data!

View the video of a Panel Discussion of Privacy and Cybersecurity

On March 10, the League of Women Voters of Portland hosted a program on “Privacy and Cybersecurity Today,” based on a new study by the League of Women Voters of Oregon.

Now you can view the video of this program to learn about this urgent and timely topic. How can we protect elections? How can you (and businesses you use) protect your personal data?

Click below to view this video:

SPEAKERS

LWVOR President Becky Gladstone, who was a member of the study committee, will be the featured speaker. She will be joined on the panel by the Director of Multnomah County Elections, Tim Scott, speaking on election security, and Emily Maass, an attorney with expertise on privacy and data protection.

TOPICS

Over the past decade, the public has been alarmed by news of identity theft, cyber attacks on personal accounts, threats to election security, tracking, surveillance, and cyber warfare. The LWV of Oregon study of these issues began in May 2019 and was completed in February. You can read the entire study online by clicking here.

Learn more about these ongoing compelling issues:

- Privacy, cybersecurity, and election security
- Privacy and cybersecurity protections now in effect
- Current legislation: privacy, cybersecurity, and election security and
- “Cyber hygiene,” or privacy and transparency protection

Below is the schedule for rebroadcast on cable channels.

The League of Women Voters of Portland’s Civic Education programs are free and open to the public. MetroEast Community Media records these programs for rebroadcast and online streaming from this website. The Carol & Velma Saling Foundation and the Multnomah Bar Foundation provided funding for the recordings. We design our programs to inform our community about current issues. Please join us for this program and our voter forums in April on the candidates and issues in the Oregon Primary Election.

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, LWV!

Our 100th Birthday is on February 14. We are celebrating a century of empowering voters and defending democracy! We are 100 years strong.

In 1920, after 72 years of struggling to gain the right to vote, American women knew the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would soon be ratified. Almost 2,000 women from around the country gathered at a “victory convention” of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

On February 14, 1920, they voted to organize the National League of Women Voters. Then, they decided that the state groups in the NAWSA should become nonpartisan state Leagues of Women Voters. Every League would have the same purposes as the national League – “to foster education in citizenship and support improved legislation.”

Thus, the League of Women Voters of Oregon also was founded on February 14, 1920. Effie Simmons from Portland, Oregon, was elected to be on the first National LWV Board. (Source: More Power Than We Knew, A History of the League of Women Voters of Oregon:1920-2012, pages 15-16)

We are celebrating some other significant anniversaries this month too. February 14th is also the 161st anniversary of the day Oregon became a state. February 3rd was the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the 15th Amendment, stating that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race. The League is still working throughout the U.S. to protect the right of all citizens to vote.

We have created a 5-minute video about the League’s history and how we are using our strengths as we prepare for the future. View the video by clicking the play arrow below:

League of Women Voters – 100 Years Strong from MetroEast Community Media on Vimeo.

Ideas for Better Schools!

Watch the Highlights from our program on “Education Innovations”

Click below to see a 20-minute video that shows the best parts of our “Innovations in Public Education” panel discussion. Experts from Metro-area schools talk about new ideas for improving education. Watch and hear what’s happening in our public schools to help all students learn and succeed!