VOTER SERVICES

Our Voter Services Committee seeks to register new DC voters, with a special emphasis on registering young people, new naturalized citizens and incarcerated people. We organize partnerships with like-minded organizations to extend our reach to as many potential voters as possible, and we provide voter registration training, registration materials, volunteers for registration events, and information and education that fosters civic engagement.

Young Voter Services

We focus on a peer-to-peer approach to register DC residents who are of high school and college-age, working with organizations whose mission is to encourage civic engagement for that age group, especially those organizations that work in underrepresented wards of the District. We brainstorm with our partners and the young people they serve to develop marketing approaches that appeal to that age group, provide training and assist with registration.  We also work with them to organize special events, such as candidate forums run by youth, to focus on issues of relevance to them.

Turning Out Young DC Voters Animation

Voting While Incarcerated

D.C.'s incarcerated citizens are fully enfranchised.  This full access to the ballot is true only for incarcerated citizens of Maine, Vermont, and Puerto Rico.  An individual's criminal legal status create location and logistical impediments to voting, but never cause a voter to lose their right to cast a ballot.  The objective of the Voting While Incarcerated Team is to provide incarcerated citizens with the tools and knowledge to be fully engaged voters accessing the most fundamental right of citizenship.   We assist with voter registration, provide basic civics knowledge through our 'Voting While Incarcerated' discussion sessions and we advocate for access to candidate information.  

Our LWVDC team will be supporting DC citizens in the DC Jail, in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, in halfway houses, and at the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS).  Click on Restore the Vote 2023 to learn more about the Restore the Vote classes.

For the 2024 Election we intend to partner with the Board of Elections and CIC for voter registration.  The 'Voting While Incarcerated' Team will field training teams for various location.  We also plan to leverage televised candidate forums for viewing by DC citizens in various carceral settings. Members can help by engaging in these types of events: 

• Voter registration visits to the DC Jail and the BOP  (one time or recurring) 

• Leading "Voting While Incarcerated" discussion session helping voters understand DC Elections, Political Parties and Candidates (recurring learning sessions) 

• Serving as an official election observer on Primary and Election Days

Click on Voting While Incarcerated to learn more.

Contact - Myra Woods: email trustee4@lwvdc.org.

Registration of New Naturalized Citizens

Naturalization Ceremonies are among the most inspiring events that the League supports across the US. 

In DC, over 100 new citizens are sworn in every second Tuesday.  Our goal is to inspire these new citizens to become new registered voters and we do that by showing up, welcoming them and assisting in the registration process on the spot right after the swearing in ceremony.   Volunteers can come one time or every second Tuesday.  

League members can support voter registration at Naturalization Ceremonies by emailing Ann Castiglione Cataldo at naturalizations@lwvdc.org.

Voter Registration Training

Click HERE to view LWVDC Online Voter Registration Training materials.

Videos
June 13, 2024 LWVDC Member Meeting - Speaker Tova Wang:  Jail-Based Voting in the District of Columbia - Click HERE to watch the video.