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01/31/2023 08:53 AMConstituents of the 34th and 87th House of Representatives voting districts will have the chance to ask their elected state representatives questions on the issues at a virtual forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Hamden-North Haven on Saturday, Feb. 11.
“This will allow the voters of these districts to know what the positions of their legislators are,” said Alice Baxter, treasurer and head of the membership committee for the LWV.
As a nonpartisan grassroots organization group, the LWV in North Haven and nationwide looks to expand and protect equal access to voting, with a main focus on increasing voter registration and education on related issues, according to Diane Hoffman, Convener of LWV and the Secretary of its Steering Committee
“We want to have as many people as possible registered to vote and actually vote,” Hoffman said. “We’re focused on the issues. The League does research for several years before they take a position on any issues, so we know that it’s been well-studied and documented, and we can have confidence that it’s a solid position.”
The local chapter of the organization was active in its mission in the run-up to the 2022 midterms election, with its major cause being in favor of a referendum to amend the Connecticut Constitution that would permit the General Assembly to provide early voting for citizens. Their support of the ballot measure, which was voted “yes” by the majority of Connecticut voters, was aligned with their expansion and protection mission, according to Baxter.
“Because our mission is to make it easier to vote, early voting was a very, very important goal for the League of Women Voters, of all of Connecticut,” Baxter said. “This was our huge push in the fall and in the summer to get the word out.”
The LWV set up tables and distributed educational hand-outs for early voting at last year’s North Haven Fair, the North Haven Memorial Library, and around Quinnipiac University. The group was also active in municipal government affairs during the previous election cycle and was specifically involved in spreading education about the eventual newly adopted Town Charter of Hamden, another example of the LWV’s commitment towards voter education and “for them to know what the question was they were voting on,” said Hoffman.
Longtime LWV member and communications liaison Paula Resch said outreach efforts by local chapters such as the group for North Haven and Hamden, as well as others across the country, have been particularly successful in their collective mission due to increased levels of constituent activity and shifts in technological means of promulgating that mission.
“What I’ve noticed is that there has been a resurgence of interest and activism in the last, maybe, decade,” she said. “I also think the internet has helped the League of Women Voters because the national league and the state league, we have more immediate access to it than we once did.”
Resch referenced the website VOTE411, as a helpful resource for North Haven voters to be informed as to what measures are on their state and local ballots and to ask candidates about their stance on the issues.
“I think that’s been a real important advance,” she said.
Along with its advocacy and citizenry education, the LWV regularly sponsors debates and forums, much like the one occurring on Feb. 11, whilst not endorsing any particular candidate and inviting representatives from both major political parties. All elected officials, Democrat and Republican, in the Connecticut General Assembly representing the nine districts encompassing North Haven and Hamden will participate in the legislative forum, including House of Representatives members Dave Yaccarino, Mike D’Agostino, Josh Elliot, Liz Linehan, Robyn Porter, Mary Welander, and state senators Paul Cicarella, Jorge Cabrera, and Martin Looney.
Over the Zoom-based forum, constituents will have their questions to the LWV answered by their state representatives, who have not viewed them beforehand. While issues of any area will be discussed, Resch said the LWV’s current concern of early voting will remain a key point of interest for the local chapter in the forum, especially as the House and Senate’s new found authorization to amend the constitution has not been acted upon as to establish an official timeframe for when early voting can be allowed.
“We know what the people want, but obviously there’s many different ways you can do it,” she said. “That’s one of the priorities, I would say, for this forum.”
The LWV hopes the conversation will provide increasingly attentive constituents of the nine total districts the opportunity to understand where their elected officials stand on the issues, especially as “transparency and accountability” are premier among expectations the organization and voters have for elected officials, according to Hoffman.
“I think people are a lot more concerned about both of those things now,” said Hoffman. “If things aren’t transparent, you have no idea what’s happening, and you can’t hold people accountable.”
Baxter said LWV-hosted forums used to be held in-person over breakfasts between representatives and constituents, but have been moved to a virtual setting due to the coronavirus pandemic. Regardless of whether they have been held in person over breakfast or over a virtual video platform, Hoffman says forums such as the upcoming one on the 11th are integral to the ability of the LWV to host an open dialogue between representatives and their inquisitive constituents.
“In the past, I think these have been very informative sessions, and the questions are really top-notch - we get great questions. They reflect the concerns of the people, and that’s the opportunity of our legislators to be honest and answer accurately. People will remember, and it will affect whether or not they get voted for in the future.”