League of Women Voters Wants You at the Polls

Nonpartisan org pushing for voter education and turnout

With the 2026 election day just a few weeks away, you’ve seen the ads, the text messages, and campaign posters. If you’ve been keeping track, you can name some of the top propositions coming up on the Michigan ballot as well.

For this issue, two chapters of the League of Women Voters—a “nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights,” per their national website—shared some of their top issues, as well as their priorities and concerns for this election cycle.

The League of Women Voters was founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt, and was created to educate women for active citizenship after the passing of the 19th Amendment. The literacy and educational aspect of the organization still remains as the primary mission of the organization, from teaching new voters what to do on polling day to creating nonpartisan information guides so voters know exactly what they’re looking at before they reach the booth.

League of Women Voters Leelanau

According to Janet Welch, President of League of Women Voters Leelanau (LWVL), the top five concerns go as follows:

1) Accurate, nonpartisan information on the two state ballot issues; 2) accurate, nonpartisan information on all local candidates on the ballot; 3) accurate, nonpartisan information about the voting process, especially mail-in voting; 4) how to spot misinformation and disinformation about election issues and candidates and the voting process; and 5) emphasizing and celebrating the importance of voting and informed citizenship.

“In this election cycle, there is a lot of confusion about mail-in voting,” Welch says. “And it’s right up our alley to make sure that whatever the latest, most accurate information is about mail-in voting is available to the voters in Leelanau County.”

The nonprofit wants to make sure residents have access to helpful, impartial information about voting.

“Our mission, in terms of election, is twofold,” Welch says. “One is to support processes that ensure that voters who are eligible to vote can vote, and that there are no obstacles for them to vote.”

League of Women Voters Grand Traverse

Charlotte Nisbet, co-president of the League of Women Voters Grand Traverse (LWVGT), echoes these efforts, and in not just a voting literacy sense but in a physical sense, too.

“Every polling place has a voter-assisted terminal so that voters with disabilities have the exact same privacy and secrecy as anyone else,” she says, explaining that this is commonplace for organizational efforts in trying to keep voting open to as many citizens as possible.

“Voters need to ask themselves, ‘What is my voting plan?’ Look at your ballot in advance, find reliable information, and decide whether you’re voting absentee, early, or on Election Day,” Charlene Krygier, co-president of the LWVGT, adds. “The League is nonpartisan, but still political. We only take positions after careful study and a vote.”

Alice Schuman, LWVGT Voter Services board member, notes that a resource called Vote411.org is now live for this election cycle.

“It allows voters to type in their address, see their exact ballot, and view candidates’ answers side by side,” she says.

She also urges citizens to not just educate themselves on what’s on the ballot, but how the ballots are handled after they’re handed in.

“The counting process is carefully handled by workers from both parties. Anyone with concerns can attend public tabulator testing or become an election inspector to see how it works firsthand,” Schuman says.

Thinking Local

The organization highlights the importance of not just considering national decisions riding on the ballot, but also at local and state officials.

“Local elected officials make decisions that shape daily life every single day, even when those issues aren’t directly on a ballot,” explains Ann Swaney, a member of the LWVGT Natural Resources and Environment Advocacy Committee. 

As an example, Swaney tells us about collaboration of Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Benzie counties on a new septic code requiring inspections upon sale or transfer of a property, as well as the Materials Management Plan addressing recycling and construction waste.

Laura Otwell, Members Officer of the LWVGT, also points toward looking at races that don’t get as much attention but still have a big impact on laws and policy. 

“Michigan Supreme Court races carry enormous weight,” Otwell says. “Voters need to look closely at who is running and what their backgrounds are.”

Learning More

A point of pride for both LWV branches is hosting forums and other events where community members are able to challenge the stances of candidates to learn more, and prepare themselves fully in a way that is immersive and interactive. 

“Getting the candidates into the community and having them respond to questions relevant to the campaign in a nonpartisan setting is a service that we're really happy to be part of,” says Welch. “I am proud of the fact that Leelanau has the highest percentage of voting of any county in Michigan. The fact that people are saying, ‘When is the voter guide coming out?’ These are people who vote and these are people who care.”

For more information, event details, or for access to their voter information and guide, visit lwvgta.org and lwvleelanau.org.

Photo by LWV headquarters

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