University communities, especially at Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Heartland Community College, are a large segment of McLean County's population. The League has long connected with their civic engagement units to register voters and support voting efforts. And thanks to new League members who fall within the Gen Z bracket—Caitlin Bradford, Erin Hastings, and Allie High— we are walking into new and diverse spaces.
March Activities
For the March Primary election, several members from the League Voter Services committee helped students navigate same-day registration and voting, and research candidates using the League's
Vote411 tool. Paige Buschman, Associate Director of the ISU Center for Civic Engagement, reported that 940 people cast their vote at the Bone Student Center on election day, a significant growth from prior primaries, with most of these voters being ISU students and many of them using same-day registration. Several Normal West High School students worked as election judges at the Precinct and gained valuable insight into voting as democracy in action.
A day after the election, Voter Services had a table at the Bloomington-Normal NOW Women's Fair held at the Bloomington Library, where a multi-generation audience learned about resources and organizations dedicated to an equitable environment.
On March 28, we distributed Vote411 information at the No Kings protest in the afternoon and that night at ISU PRIDE's annual charity Drag Show in the Bone Student Center. In addition to the 250 audience members, we joined a diverse group of co-sponsors (see photo of sponsor logos) to support the recipient of funds, the Immigration Project.
March wrapped up with supporting the Not in Our Town showing of the film "Join or Die" at the Bloomington Public Library.
As we move into the spring and summer months, we will continue to table at local events such as the Democracy Dialogues sessions and the annual PRIDE festival, and are always interested in welcoming new members to our committee. If you are interested, please contact Kyle Ciani at
voterserviceslwvmclean@gmail.com.
Photos
Top: from left Amy Jeck, Erin Hastings, and Caitlin Bradford brought great energy to ISU Pride's annual charity Drag Show
Middle: Peggy Swerdlik (left) and Alexis Kalish helped students interested in voting at the Bone Student Center.
Bottom: ISU Drag Show sponsors