Local Leagues in Vermont

League of Women Voters^®
of Vermont

The League of Women Voters is organized on three levels, national, state and local. The LWV of Vermont has two local Leagues, the LWV of the Champlain Valley and LWV of Central Vermont. There are also Vermont members in the LWV of the Upper Valley, a bi-state local centered in Hanover, NH.

LWV Champlain Valley

Current Events: Instant Run-off Voting
The Champlain Valley League of Women Voters has long advocated instant runoff voting (IRV), as an improvement to our democracy. We are currently working with others, to defend IRV and majority voting rules in Burlington against a repeal question on the March ballot. A PAC named "50% Matters" has been formed to run the IRV defense campaign.
The charter amendment (Ballot item #5), initiated by City Councilor Paul Decelles (R - Ward 7) seeks to repeal IRV and repeal the majority requirement for electing a mayor in the first round. It would substitute a 40% winning threshold (with a separate runoff election if no candidate reaches 40%) for IRV's 50% winning threshold.
The Decelles initiative abandons the principle of majority rule. A 40% victory threshold means that whenever there are three or more candidates, we can have "spoilers," in which the majority splits among candidates, allowing a candidate that 60% of voters agree is the worst choice to be declared the "winner."
It is unlikely that using IRV changed the results of the 2009 mayoral elections, a concern of those who wish to repeal it. The ballots show that in a runoff between the top two finishers, Wright and Kiss, a majority of voters preferred Kiss to Wright. The fairness of a voting system should never be judged based on whose candidate happens to win in any particular election.
For more information on IRV, see the FAQs on our special IRV web site at: http://50percentmatters.org/
To help the League defend IRV and uphold majority rule in Burlington, please contact us at: burlingtonIRV@gmail.com. Contributions can be made out to "50% Matters" and sent to: Helen Hossley, 325 Ethan Allen Parkway, Burlington, VT 05408
The Champlain Valley Voter
The LWVCV publishes a monthly newsletter. You may read them by clicking on the issue of interest.
October 2009
November 2009
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
June 2010

LWV Central Vermont

About Us
The original LWV of Central Vermont was organized in 1948 as the LWV of Montpelier. It was dissolved shortly after its 50th anniversary, but came back and was recognized by the LWVUS in 2004.
In 2008, in response to proposals to bottle water from a spring in East Montpelier, the LWVCEN conducted a study of the best ways to protect groundwater. Click here to see our study report.
This year we are sponsoring a series of movies dealing with political issues. In November, we presented Blue Gold, a documentary based on the book of the same name by Maude Barlow, describing the commercialization of this vital resource.
March will bring you Iron-Jawed Angels, a feature film about the struggle for women's suffrage.
In April, co-sponsored by the Kellogg-Hubbard Library and WILPF we will present Nuclear Tipping Point, a conversation with four men intimately involved in American diplomacy and national security over the last four decades. Former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry and former Senator Sam Nunn share the personal experiences that led them to write two Wall Street Journal op-eds, in support of a world free of nuclear weapons and the steps needed to get there.
Check the Calendar of Events for more information about these films.
The LWV of Central Vermont Bulletin
The newsletter of the LWVCEN is published quarterly. Click on the dates below to read it.
Summer 2010
Spring 2010
Winter 2009

LWV of the Upper Valley

Information about the Upper Valley League can be found at http://www.uppervalleyleague.org/.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: July 22, 2010 08:59 PDT.