A presidential race has already taken place in Salem this fall.  The candidates: Snoopy, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Duck and Baby Mouse. By the end of the election, 293 children at this year’s Salem Art Fair had cast their votes and Snoopy became the 2024 Character President.  The children’s election, held by Marion and Polk County’s League of Women Voters chapter, was one of many outreach events this fall to engage people of all ages in voting practices and education.  “Voting can be a family affair,” Alice LaViolette, the league’s website manager, said.  An evolving mission Since 1947, Marion and Polk County’s League of Women Voters has been a trusted source for information on candidates, ballot measures and voter’s rights. Today, the league’s mission is the same: provide accessible voting information and defend voter rights.  But the shape of those efforts has changed as online media has grown and candidates have distanced themselves from the public “In some ways, it used to not be so hard to get the candidates to be willing to come do the interviews,” said Vernadene Anderson, the league’s voter services chair.  In the past, the league hosted debates between candidates, but stopped due to candidates dropping out. Now candidates mainly do meet and greet events or individual interviews. “I think somehow they’re not understanding what a benefit it is, or even an obligation,” Anderson said, referring to some candidates’ reluctance to appear against their opponent. “They need to communicate to their constituency and this is a safe, easy way to do it.”  Due to the league’s nonpartisanship and history in the area, more people trust them on voting resources and election information, Anderson said. With voters and community members, the league has been “awakening and awakening,” since 2020 according to LaViolette. Membership started growing as the league began again working in-person after the pandemic. LaViolette said she believes that being alone with the news during the pandemic led people to want to help out with local civic engagement. With this year’s election, LaViolette said, people are eager to join to protect voters as many Republican candidates have cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election and the security of vote-by-mail systems like Oregon’s.  Although the league accepts men, it has historically focused on “women trying to educate themselves and become more part of the world,” LaViolette said. Founded by suffragists in 1920, the national League of Women Voters started as a way to inform women as they first became voters.  Reaching out to voters One of the biggest changes Anderson and membership chair Amy Vandegrift have seen over the years is youth engagement, especially through youth councils and mock elections.   “It’s an education to understand how our lives are directly affected (by local government),” Vandegrift said, talking about youth civic engagement. “When they turn 18, they suddenly get this ballot in the mail, and they are able to vote … and understand what they’re doing.” The student mock election, organized by Oregon’s League of Women Voters, enrolls thousands of middle and high school students every year to learn about political parties, elections and practice voting. This year, 23,000 Oregon students enrolled in mock election, with nearly 17,000 of them from the Salem-Keizer School District. The goal of mock elections is to inform students that there is more to vote on than the well-known, national races.  “Those people who serve as county commissioners, as the sheriff, as our city council people … that’s where the bulk of how we live our daily life is really spent and we forget that,” Vandegrift said. For each election, the league focuses on groups that tend to vote but can get left out of voting resources and outreach efforts. This election cycle, the League of Women Voters of Marion and Polk County is focusing on seniors. To bring seniors into the election, the league partnered with NorthWest Senior and Disability Services to conduct interviews with candidates through Capital Community Media.  Members of the senior and disability services advisory council have interviewed candidates for Congressional districts, Oregon house districts and state treasurer.  Of the 27 candidates the league requested interviews with, 19 agreed, including U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas and her opponent Mike Erickson, Congressional District 5 candidate Brett Smith and the candidates in the competitive race for House District 21, Rep. Kevin Mannix and City Councilor Virginia Stapleton. When this year’s primary election was approaching, the league did outreach efforts with unhoused voters.  At an event with Church at the Park earlier this year, one woman, after reading the voters guide, said the city council candidates each seemed so qualified that she didn’t know who she’d vote for.  “It was just kind of moving to see a brand new voter as an adult connect with (the fact) that they had the ability to make a choice that could matter,” LaViolette said.  The league understands that most people don’t have the time or resources to research local candidates and ballot measures on their own. “We are a group who think about elections and politics and issues all the time, but most people don’t, most people just live their lives,” Vandegrift said. “When it comes down to voting, they are out there willing to listen to information on both sides, they want that.”  Being a nonpartisan group, the league is welcomed into a variety of places to inform voters on more than the issues they may fixate on. “If people were encouraged to go ahead and vote on the issues that matter to them, even if they’re frustrated by other candidates that are running … there are other issues they need to look at that are gonna be affecting their everyday life and community,” LaViolette said. Resources for voters The league this year worked with Willamette University students to create a new Oregon voting brochure. It also helps run Vote 411, a website with up to date local and national election information.  Vote 411 has information specific to Oregon voters, like ballot drop box locations, voter registration verification and resources for voters with disabilities or serving in the military. Updated Oregon ballot information will be available on Vote 411 website on Sept. 30.  A list of upcoming volunteer opportunities with Marion and Polk County’s league is available online. General information about the local league, civic engagement information and monthly events is available on its website. Interviews with local candidates are uploaded regularly to Capital Community Media’s YouTube page.  CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said Marion and Polk County’s League of Women Voters arranged an interview with Rep. Lori Chavez DeRemer. Chavez DeRemer did not accept the local league’s interview request. Salem Reporter apologizes for the error. Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Local League of Women Voters is one constant as candidates, voters face increased polarization appeared first on Salem Reporter.