This election year, the League of Women Voters of Johnson County has stressed the importance of educating and advocating for community members in Iowa City and surrounding areas.

The League of Women Voters has been around since 1920, with over 700 leagues across the U.S. Referred to by the league as a “mighty political experiment,” it aimed to help newly enfranchised women exercise their right to vote, according to the league’s website. However, the league now prides itself in its advocacy for all voters.

“We believe that a well-informed electorate, a cornerstone of democracy,” Vicki Aden, the league president said. “So, we are trying to make sure that people who are voting, first of all, have the opportunity to vote, and when they vote, they’re well informed.”

In the month of September, the league participated in over 30 events in multiple places like food pantries, public libraries, festivals, and neighborhood events to reach people and educate them, Aden said.

Aden also said that at the local level, they hosted a candidate forum with candidates from Iowa Senate District 46 and two from Iowa House Districts 91 and 92 so people could hear about their campaigns.

“To moderate it, the League will ask a question, and then they will take questions from the audience,” Aden said. “And for the candidate forums, those are submitted on note cards and the moderator will go through and consolidate them.”

Polly Horton, secretary to Iowa’s League of Women Voters, and past president of the organization, shared some of the goals and challenges the league has and faces.

The League is nonpartisan, they study issues and establish policies, locally, statewide, and nationally, she said.

“We educate and advocate on these issues, so our goals are to empower voters and defend democracy,” Horton said.

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Additionally, due to the fact the league hosts many public forums, Horton said that some of the challenges they face involve having participation from all political parties and concern transparency in legislative actions at the State House and Senate during sessions.

Jean Donham, vice president of the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, also discussed what the group is currently doing for the community.

“We’re encouraging people to make sure that they’re registered to vote, and at those registration tables, we’re also providing them information on how to vote, how to do it early, get an absentee ballot, where to find the precinct they’re in for election day, all the information a person needs to be able to show up and cast their ballot,” Donham said.

In addition to voting, the league is involved in advocating for different groups aimed at educating people on issues affecting communities, Donham said.

“Last year we did an education program. We often host these at the Iowa City Public Library,” Donham said. “So, we did one on freedom of information, and tried to help people understand what that means and what the barriers are to accessing public information sometimes, and what kind of initiatives are underway to make the information accessible.”

In talking about education, Donham said the informed citizen is a very important subject when it comes to voting.

“Thomas Jefferson said it right,” Donham said. “Democracy depends upon an informed citizen and our commitment is to try to do our little part in our corner of the world, to help have an informed citizenry that goes to the ballot box with reliable information that can help them determine how they want to vote and what things they want to stand up for.”