LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS®
O F S A R A S O TA C O U N T Y
November 2016
Volume 52
Issue 11
Th e Vo t e r
Critical Dates For Voting!

November 5th: Last Day for Early Voting
Vote!
8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. daily
SOE offices in Sarasota, Venice & North Port and
North Sarasota Library, Fruitville Library, Westfield Sarasota Square Mall & Nokomis Community Center

****November 8th: Election Day****
Polls open 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
A History of Voting in America
Thank You!
A big shout out to those energetic dedicated people who
stepped up for Voter Service in this busy pre-election year
of 2016:
Barbar Farrar got off to a great start with voter registration and Meet and Greets in the primary election season.
Ann Hardy, of Sarasota County Libraries, coordinated and
cooperated with getting out the state Voter Guides and with
setting up events such as Meet and Greets and Town Halls.
Monica Streacker for lining up all those meeting places.
Patricia Arvin, League secretary, put together the local
online Voter Guide. Patricia also worked mightily to set up
debates, some of which did not work out. Can’t say you did
not try, Pat.
Kitty Galica, Healthcare Committee chair, and the Healthcare Committee including Millie Headdy, staunch League
veteran, organized a forum for the Sarasota Memorial
Hospital Board candidates held at the Selby Library. Who
knew what they do or who they are?
Pat Price, a go-to League veteran, moderated the Town
Halls: one in Venice on October 25th and one in North Port
on November 2nd. Lorraine Livingston, our Vice-President
and long-time League member, was there every step of the
way. Thanks, too, to Gayle Duch for her assistance in South
county.
Lourdes Ramirez, the Speaker Bureau chair, worked
tirelessly giving 11 presentations on the Amendments,
appearing on TV in a forum and alone discussing them.
And how can we thank Nancy Goethe for her dedicated
work on the LWV-SC website and for sending out all those
notices about preelection events and happenings?
At most all of these events plus other community events
too numerous to mention, League members registered
voters.
To League of Women Voters of Sarasota County, those
recognized here and those who were not, thank you, thank
you, thank you!!
Phyllis Vogel
When the Colonies first established the election process, the only people who could
vote were white male property owners over the age of 21. So, how did we evolve from
a nation where a privileged few could vote to a nation where just about everyone gets to
cast a ballot? That’s the question Florida Attorney Tom Shults answered as he traced the
history of voting in America at the League’s Food for Thought luncheon last month.
The full presentation is available on his website, floridaelectionlawyer.com, but here
are some highlights:
• The Constitution did not establish the right to vote. It simply guaranteed that
every State would have a republican form of government. Who can vote is established by
state law.
• Because each state established their own rules of eligibility, who could vote and
in what elections varied widely before the Civil War. All that was supposed to change
with the ratification of the 14th and 15th amendments in 1868 and 1870.
• The 14th Amendment denied states the right to make or enforce laws that
abridged the privileges or immunities of the citizens of the United States. The 15th
Amendment specifically said the right to vote cannot be denied or abridged by any state
on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. There was no mention of
gender in the this amendment.
• Ninety five years later, the Congress put some force behind the words. What happened during those 95 years? States in the reconstructed South found all sorts of ways to
deny the vote to former slaves, from literacy tests to racial threats and violence. Women
were simply excluded from voting. However, noncitizens, particularly in the West, were
often allowed to vote. In fact, the right to vote was used to entice immigrants to settle the
West.
• When did women get the right to vote? Not until the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. To ratify an amendment, three-fourths of the states must approve it. The
states were evenly divided until Tennessee took it up and the man who cast the deciding
favorable vote was young Harry Burn, whose mother urged him to vote for approval. It
turns out Mom was a strong supporter of the women’s suffrage movement.
• Finally, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 established procedures to enforce Amendments 14 and 15 and the rest is a history that many of us have experienced firsthand.
So, check out the website. You’ll find it informative and entertaining. Plus, as Harry
Truman said, “the only thing that’s new in the world is the history you don’t know.”
President
League of Women Voters Recommends:
NO
on Solar Amendment 1
(see page 2 for information on all amendments)
2
League of Women Voters
Sarasota County
Board of Directors
President:
Phyllis Vogel
Vice President
Lorraine Livingston
Secretary
Pat Arvin
Treasurer
Patty Schreiber
Immediate Past President
Judy Achre
Board Members
Carol Cooke
Joan Crowley
Barbara Farrar
Connie Goldstein
Sally Lord
Lourdes Ramirez
Monica Streacker
Brynne-Lei Radcliffe
CYD STAR Student
Contact Us:
Phone: 941.266.7425
Email: [email protected]
On the web:
www.lwv-sarasota-fl.org
LWV-SC
PO Box 18884
Sarasota FL 34276
Amendments on the Ballot Explained
The League of Women Voters has taken a stand against this utility company backed amendment, explained
Lourdes Ramirez of the Sarasota League, at the Food For Thought Breakfast held last month to provide
information on the four proposed Florida Constitutional Amendments.
Ramirez said a “No” vote maintains the current right for consumers to own or lease solar-power equipment
to generate electricity for their own use and halt a potential constitutional barrier to new laws that would
broaden the solar power market by allowing solar companies to sell electricity to consumers. A “No” vote
allows for free market potential for electricity, she noted.
Presenting the case for Amendment 2 was Julie Stewart, Southwest Florida Representative, People United
for Medical Marijuana. Amendment 2 would allow the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician. It differs from the 2014 proposed amendment
in that it provides more specifics on medical conditions, permits licensed caregivers to purchase the product
and sets up regulatory procedures administered by the State Health Department. “States with medical
marijuana laws in place have lower homicide rates, fewer traffic fatalities, and a viable answer to the opioid
epidemic,” she said, adding “Homicides are also greater where alcohol and opioids are the only easily
accessible relief for chronic pain or extreme anxiety.” A “No” vote would not impact the current medical
marijuana laws.
The League has not taken a stand on Amendment 2, 3 or 5, said Ramirez. Amendment 3 would extend
the current property tax exemption to spouses of first responders who die in the line of duty, to include first
responders who are totally and permanently disabled due to injuries received in the line of duty. A ”No” vote
retains the current exemption.
Amendment 5 would ensure that low income seniors who qualify for additional homestead exemptions as
longtime residents would not lose their exemption if their property value increases above $250,000. A “No”
vote maintains the current exemption.
LWV-SC and Girls Inc Team Up for Voter Education
Sarasota County’s Girls Inc contacted the League of Women Voters to see if we were interested in partnering with them on their internal voter project. As a result, Judy Achre, Millie Headdy, Janet Olshewsky and
Lourdes Ramirez met with Jaimie Minion of Girls Inc and decided it would be a natural fit for the League
with our Voting and Education committees.
On Tuesday, October 25, Lourdes gave a presentation of the history of women’s right to vote to the assembled girls and then had a question and answer period. The girls completed the Girls Inc “Voter Registration”
applications and brought them to Millie Headdy and Jane Olshewsky who presented the girls with the Girls
Inc voter registration cards. The girls will use their voter registration cards on November 1st and 8th when
they vote for the President and their Mayor. Lourdes also advised the girls who were running for Mayor with
campaign advice. The Girls Inc National Voting Project will end on November 15th with a swearing-in ceremony and celebration. Several dignitaries, including the Supervisor of Elections, City of Sarasota’s Mayor
and the Chief of Police, and others have been invited to attend. If any of the League members would like to
help with this project, please call or email Millie Headdy (941.924.2791, or [email protected]).
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