The League of Women Voters Organization of Twin Falls has been providing voter information to our citizens since its founding in 1947. We would love to have you join our membership!

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization (it is not funded or sponsored by any political or government organizations) which works to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government. This Web site is presented as a public service to work as a voting and informational tool for voters. The League believes that the exercise of political responsibility, at the polls and within one’s party, is a safeguard for democratic rights. League membership is open to all people at least 18 years of age.

For Local League Information:

Betty Valentine
2081 Hillcrest Dr.
Twin Falls, ID 83301
208.734.6868

For Idaho State League Information:

Elinor Chehey
LWV of Idaho
2705 North 32nd. St.
Boise, ID 83703
Phone: 208-343-8018
E-mail: Echehey@cableone.net
State of Idaho League Page: www.lwv-id.org

About the national organization....

The following text is used by permission from the national League of Women Voters Organization: http://www.lwv.org

Past & Future

The League of Women Voters is an outgrowth of the suffragist movement. Carrie Chapman Catt founded the organization in 1920 during the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The convention was held only six months before the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote after a 57-year struggle.

The League began as a "mighty political experiment" designed to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters. It encouraged them to use their new power to participate in shaping public policy. From the beginning, the League was an activist, grassroots organization whose leaders believed that citizens should play a critical role in advocacy. It was then, and is now, a nonpartisan organization. League founders believed that maintaining a nonpartisan status would protect the fledgling organization from becoming mired in the party politics of the day. However, League members were encouraged to be political themselves, by educating citizens about, and lobbying for, government and social reform legislation.

"Naturally, this course has failed to please extremists of either brand," noted the League's first president, Maud Wood Park, in 1924. "The partisan radicals call the League conservative, the thorough-going reactionaries are sure that it is radical or worse." This holds true even today. We are proud that the League is nonpartisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates at any level of government, but always working on issues of concern to members and the public. The League has a long, rich history. Read more about the League's history and its success stories since its inception at the national Web page: www.lwv.org .

Today, that trust allows the League to continue to influence public policy. The League's impact is felt at all levels of government: local, state and national. The League's work is based on the belief that citizens who have well researched and unbiased information will make wise decisions for their communities and their nation. The League helps citizens ensure that their voices are heard at the local state and national levels and through coalition building around shared issues.

The League of Women Voters Education Fund takes action in local communities to support public policy issues. In 1998-99, the Kaiser Family Foundation has partnered with state and local Leagues around the country to bring the public voice on Medicare reform to the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. Though the commission ended in deadlock, the League found a remarkable citizen consensus on applying the core values of fairness, access, responsibility and efficiency to public policy options.

In Arizona, the League was instrumental in passing the Citizen's Clean Money, Clean Elections Act, The League's statewide campaign collected more than 190,000 signatures to put the Clean Elections initiative on the November 1998 state ballot and then succeeded in winning 51 percent approval by voters. The tough new law targets the system of special-interest campaign funding in Arizona and levels the playing field so that qualified candidates can successfully run for state office and so that citizens voice will be heard. In Maine, the LWV mounted a similar successful campaign to pass the Maine Clean Election Act.

The LWV of Pensacola, Florida, working with a coalition of diverse groups, individuals and government agencies, embarked on a community-wide effort to develop the Perdido River Walk Nature Trail. The effort transformed the existing narrow path into an accessible, interpretive trail that provides a truly education experience for students and an appreciation of the fragile beauty of Florida wetland. Coalition partners provided staff time, mailing lists, materials and volunteer hours.

The League's leaders are committed to ensuring the organization's continued success in the future. The Future Plan, presented by President Carolyn Jefferson Jenkins, Ph.D. to League leaders in June of 1999, outlines a new strategic vision to improve the organization's impact, visibility and development in the 21st century. The goals articulated in the plan include a renewed commitment to reconnecting citizens with government, enhancing voter participation, including all voices in civic life and strengthening the democratic process through reform.