ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The League of Women Voters of Lehigh County wants you.
The organization will hold a meet-and-greet from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the Active Life Center senior center at 1633 Elm St. in Allentown.
League President Mary Erdman said the Lehigh County chapter has experienced a growth spurt in the past nine months, growing about 30% to bring its membership to more than 100 people.
The purpose of the meet-and-greet is twofold, Erdman said — to familiarize newcomers with the league’s projects and services, and to appeal to folks to help revive the League of Women Voters of Northampton County, too.
All are welcome, she said.
“Our goal is to empower voters.”Mary Erdman, League of Women Voters of Lehigh County
“Our goal is to empower voters,” she said. “Anything that involves voter education and voter registration. We try to build trust in communities with voter education and voter registration. We do educational things at schools and senior centers. We have services for both candidates and voters.”
Erdman said the Northampton County league hasn’t been active for some time. She said a revival would strengthen services and allow both counties to work in concert.
“We’re the third-largest metro area in the state and we don’t have a league. I think it’s critical,” she said. “There’s so much that has to be done for voter education and advocacy for democratic ideals.”
Voter advocacy
Erdman said the League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization and network that sometimes gets wrongly cast as a partisan group.
It holds voter education and voter registration events, as well as workshops for people considering running for elected office. While it does have a political arm, she said, its political advocacy is not driven by political parties.
"Our political side is that if we see legislation to limit access to voting or restrictive forms of voter ID, we will lobby and advocate,” she said. “When you look at it, all we fight for are democratic ideals. We don’t fight a legislator or a party or one side. We fight for an ideal.”
She said Wednesday’s meet-and-greet will focus on the services the league provides and pairing some of the newer members into volunteer roles that might suit their interests, such as web design or social media.
The league’s Vote411.org website serves as a clearinghouse for election-related information on candidates and voting information.
