SECOND EXPO ANOTHER SUCCESS STORY | Palm Beach County League members Reisha Roopchand Allen and Board Director Rebecca Taylor Cohen run the Voter Bingo game at the 2026 Election Expo at Palm Beach State College Sept. 28. Standing by is League Treasurer Missy Gannon. | 2026 event draws many candidates, more voters, more attention | The Palm Beach State College gymnasium was bustling with candidates, voters and volunteers Sept. 28 at the 2026 Election Expo at the Lake Worth campus. Local voters who attended got to speak one-on-one with candidates for local, state and federal offices, learn about Florida Constitutional Amendments and Palm Beach County ballot referendums, see voting equipment used in Palm Beach County, get a personalized sample ballot from Supervisor of Elections Office staff, and visit with community organizations dedicated to civic engagement.
The 2026 Expo attracted 36 candidates and more than 300 voters. It featured, for the first time, three $2,500 scholarships awarded to PBSC students, funded by event sponsorships. The 2024 Expo, which was the first, attracted 37 candidates and more than 250 voters.
This award-winning nonpartisan event was created by the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County, Leadership Palm Beach County and Palm Beach State College. Other presenting partners include the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office, Florida Power & Light Company, law firms Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA and Smith Ball Baez & Prather Florida Injury Lawyers, the Sierra Club, the Black Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County, Delta Sigma Theta sorority and several local businesses. Several teams of the local League also were represented. | Above left: Elections Office staffers were present to show voters how to use election equipment. Above right: Three PBSC students — Christian Holmes, Wilguere Choisilme and Yasmir McCleod — each received $2,500 scholarships with money raised from numerous Expo sponsorships. | |
With gratitude ...
Expo and Guide
display our leadership,
valuable partnerships
in educating voters | | | I am overwhelmed with pride following the League’s 2026 Election Expo and the launch of our Voters’ Guide. They are a resounding success! The room buzzed with excitement as voters actively engaged with the many candidates – an experience both the candidates and voters will remember for a long time. Once again, the League’s Guide proved why it holds its reputation for providing comprehensive nonpartisan information.
Both the Voters’ Guide and the 2026 Election Expo succeeded because of our incredible team members, as well as our strong collaboration with Leadership Palm Beach and Palm Beach State College. Our teams worked tirelessly and coordinated seamlessly. They are an inspiration to all of us.
And Now, My Ask . . .
As Election Day grows closer, we are all feeling the fatigue. I get it – I’m right there in the trenches with you. Let’s all take a deep breath and reconnect with our “why.” Whenever I ask our members what keeps them going, the answer is always the same: to carry forward the legacy of those before us, to defend democracy and empower voters. Let’s keep that purpose front and center, support one another, and finish this election season strong. Thank you for everything you do!
– Janet Elinoff, President | JOIN LEAGUE, PARTNERS
TO ALERT PUBLIC ABOUT AMENDMENT 3 | The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County League of Cities and Guardians of the Glades have joined to provide four public forums throughout Palm Beach County about the potential implications of Florida Constitutional Amendment 3 if it passes in November. Many voters are not informed about the impacts it could have on local governments’ critical services.
— Rich Bartholomew, Advocacy Chair | RECENT LWVPBC LEADERSHIP ADDITIONS | Second Vice President — Debra Oistacher
Secretary — Mary Sue Donohue
Special Events — Cindy Sheehan-Hartwell and Patty Whitehead, Co-Chairs
Nominating Committee — Susan Breece, Donna Colabella, Dr. Cassondra Corbin-Thaddies, Marilyn Ricci and Ken Thomas, Chair | Nominations Open for 2027–’29 League Leadership | The LWVPBC is now accepting nominations for Board Officers and Directors. This is an opportunity for members to help shape the League’s future by identifying committed leaders who can advance our nonpartisan mission and strengthen our work throughout Palm Beach County.
Nominations are being accepted for the following positions:
• President
• First Vice President
• Second Vice President
• Secretary
Three Director seats
The deadline for nominations is Nov. 30. After the deadline, additional nominations will be accepted from the floor at the Annual Meeting in May 2027.
If you know a League member in good standing whose experience, judgment and dedication would make them an effective officer or director — or if you are interested in serving — please submit a nomination by Nov. 30. Nominations may be submitted to any member of the Board or to the Nominating Committee at Nominating@LWVPBC.org.
Your participation will help ensure a strong and representative slate of candidates for the League’s next leadership team.
Thank you.
— Ken Thomas, Nominating Committee Chair
| Karen Wilkerson, LWVPBC President Emeritus, and centenarian Dorothy Weiss are pictured with Voters' Guides to distribute. Weiss — with a driver — will deliver guides to various locales near her senior living facility. PEACE coordinator Eli Krakow also is delivering guides to partners throughout Palm Beach County. Photos by Rebecca Taylor Cohen | GET INFORMED WITH LEAGUE’S 2026 VOTERS’ GUIDE | With the local, state and federal elections just weeks away, members of the League of Women Voters Palm Beach County recently visited Waterford Senior Living in Juno Beach to distribute copies of the new nonpartisan 2026 Voters’ Guide.
Under the direction of LWVPBC members Joyce Sullivan, Kris Serbesoff-King and Carol Carnevale, numerous League volunteers worked together to contact dozens of political candidates (Democratic, Republican and Non Party Affiliate) and asked them to fill out the LWVPBC questionnaire. Their various responses and relevant information about campaign issues and ballot amendments were all compiled into the 2026 Voters’ Guide.
Packed with essential “need to know” information, this trusted, free, easy-to-read publication is the perfect tool to help every voter be informed. It was distributed through select issues of The Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News on Sunday, Sept. 27, at key libraries, community centers, houses of worship and more, and is also available online at VOTE411.org.
“When it comes to civic engagement and a commitment to voting, there is no age limit,” declares centenarian Dorothy Weiss. “Whether you are 18 or 108, the right to vote and participate in the process of democracy is the privilege and responsibility of every citizen.”
Another pro-vote volunteer is Eli Krakow, Coordinator for PEACE (People Engaged in Active Civic Engagement), who is sharing the Voters’ Guides and VOTE411 information with supporters around Palm Beach County.
“From centenarians to first-time voters, LWVPBC is determined to ensure that everyone has both the necessary information and opportunity to vote this November and ensure that their voices are heard,” said Janet Elinoff, President of the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County.
— Gary Schweikhart | |
IN MEMORIAM:
JULIE FROHLICHSTEIN | | | We were lucky to have Julie Frohlichstein as a Lifetime Member of the League of Women Voters. She died Sept. 1, at age 94, after a short illness and time at the Trustbridge Hospice in Boca Raton. Her richly lived life was shaped by her curiosity, conviction of rightness, love of family, encouragement to those for whom she cared and community service.
She joined the League of Women Voters in 1964. She was elected to many board positions over the years and places she lived. She also was elected to a local School Board and in that position awarded one of her sons his eighth-grade diploma.
Julie and her late husband, Ben Frohlichstein, met as students at University of Missouri in Columbus. They married before he began his military service in the Korean War. They moved from St. Louis to Indianapolis, Houston, the Chicago area, and back to St. Louis.
Julie moved to Florida in 2000 to Boca Pointe and subsequently to Edgewater at Boca Pointe, a Continuous Care residential community. There she became a steadfast member of the Scholarship Committee, working to provide scholarship funds for culinary employees. She also was a longtime supporter of National Council of Jewish Women and Public Broadcasting.
She is survived by two sons and their wives: Alan and Diane Frohlichstein and David and Carol Frohlichstein, and her cherished grandchildren, Benjamin, Jason and Rachel.
We appreciate that the family suggested the League of Women Voters as one of the suggested recipients of memorial donations in her honor.
— Mary Sue Donohue, Secretary | BE ELECTION READY FOR NOV. 3
| VOTE411/Ballot is live for General Election | The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County has updated VOTE411, an online Voters’ Guide with valuable information on local, state and federal candidates as well as several measures on the upcoming General Election ballot. VOTE411 is part of the League’s comprehensive nonpartisan campaign of voter registration, education and candidate engagement. This outreach is targeted at voters across Palm Beach County.
The printed version of the VOTE411 Voters’ Guide was carried in select editions of The Palm Beach Post Sunday, Sept. 27, and is available for convenient pick-up at numerous public buildings, houses of worship, civic institutions and businesses.
LWVPBC is also distributing thousands of voter information hand cards with two messages:
+ What’s on YOUR Ballot? with both a QR code and Vote411.org/Ballot, for direct access to trusted, local, nonpartisan voter information.
+ General Voting Info 2026 with both a QR code and LWVPBC.org/Vote2026, to check your voter status, register to vote, update personal voter information, check on your vote-by-mail ballot, find polling locations or research campaigns and candidates.
— Joyce Sullivan, Publications Chair
| LIBRARY, PARKS CAPITAL PLAN TOWN HALLS
| Palm Beach County has scheduled Town Halls throughout the month for residents to learn about its capital project plans for County Libraries and Parks and Recreation facilities that are the subject of separate bond issue referendums on the Nov. 3 ballot. Registration is required to attend most of them.
Friday, Oct. 2, 2-3 p.m.
West Boynton Branch Library, 9451 Jog Road, Boynton Beach
Sunday, Oct. 4, 4-5 p.m.
Town of Juno Beach Council Chambers, 340 Ocean Drive, Juno Beach
Monday, Oct. 5, 2-3 p.m.
Tequesta Branch Library, 461 Old Dixie Highway N., Tequesta
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2-3 p.m.
Jupiter Branch Library, 705 Military Trail, Jupiter
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6-7 p.m.
Okeeheelee Nature Center, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6-7 p.m.
CMAA Therapeutic Recreation Complex, 2728 Lake Worth Road, Lake Worth
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2-3 p.m.
PBC Cooperative Extension Service
Clayton E. Hutcheson Agricultural Services Center, 559 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach
Wednesday Oct. 21, 6-7 p.m.
West Jupiter Recreation Center, 6401 W. Indiantown Road, Jupiter
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6-7 p.m.
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach
The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County supports both county bond issue referendums, as well as the Palm Beach County School District millage referendum, which also is on the Nov. 3 ballot. For information on all three, visit the League website or VOTE411.org. |  | Mark your calendars! The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County has scheduled its annual fundraising luncheon for Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2027, at the Marriott West Palm Beach.
Centered around the vital theme, “Defending Democracy & The Rule of Law,” the luncheon will spotlight three attorneys receiving our prestigious Mavericks & Heroes Award. We will also celebrate our organizational legacy by honoring the past presidents of our local League.
Get involved: Our luncheon committee is currently forming. If you’d like to lend a hand to help make this event a success, please reach out to Janet Elinoff (President@lwvpbc.org) to volunteer.
Stay turned for ticket and sponsorship details.
– Janet Elinoff, President | MORE ELECTION PROTECTION TRAINING PLANNED | Please help spread the word. Here is information on all the different volunteer needs: Poll monitors, legal monitors, Canvassing Board monitors and more. Volunteers can register here. For general voter information to share, visit the Voter Resource Hub. Some members were trained to provide Election Protection services during the primary, and more trainings will be held before the General Election.
The primary provided a good chance to see what might happen at which polls. If you know of certain poll locations on Election Day that have had issues with hyperpartisans, long lines or any other impediments to voting, please let me know. We can add them to a priority list to be sure we have eyes on them.
— Kate Renchin, Palm Beach County Voting Rights Coalition Co-Chair | UPCOMING EVENTS
Click on the flyer to see the details
| Come and mingle with local League members and potential members
from surrounding areas. You'll see members you know and make new
friends too! View the menu at @GizzisCoffeeHouse on social media.
| Above: LWVPBC member Pam Maldonado talks to the Links, Inc., group about
voting issues before its annual walk-a-thon at Gaines Park in West Palm Beach.
Below left: Whitney Cunningham and Geanine Wester. | PUTTING THEIR HEARTS INTO EXERCISING THE VOTE
| | The Links, Inc., West Palm Beach chapter, held its 31st Walk for Healthy Living with a Link Up the Vote component Saturday morning, Sept. 26, at Gaines Park. Partners were LWVPBC, When We All Vote, T Leroy Jefferson Medical Society and Palm Beach State College. The Links is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations; its membership consists of more than 17,000 professional women of African descent in 299 chapters. It is committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. | | | TEAM PARTNERS WITH JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT
| A Voter Services team partnered with Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches
and Treasure Coast, and assisted Lake Worth High School students in registering
to vote during a career fair. The team also went to CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches
to hear opening day remarks from Junior Achievement leadership and community
partners about inspiring student impact. JA is ithe nation's largest organization
dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills for economic success.
Programs include work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. | The League enjoyed ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s on Atlantic Avenue in Delray
Beach while talking to passers-by about voter registration and checking their voter
status. Front row: Secretary Mary Sue Donohue. Standing: Director Patty Whitehill,
2nd VP Debbie Oistacher, Carol Carnevale, Susan Mason, Linda Prior and
Barbra Kavanaugh. | MUNCH AND MINGLE DRAWS A CROWD
| League members and guests gather at the League of Women Voters' "Take the League Local" Munch and Mingle membership event on Sept. 18 at Ella Coffee House in Boynton Beach. Event organizer Linda Prior welcomed attendees as members learned about volunteer opportunities, voting initiatives and upcoming League activities. | NEXT TASTE OF THE LEAGUE ORIENTATION IS NOV. 7
| Calling new/newer members to our next Taste of the League. You will have the opportunity to meet and interact with our team Chairs and get a "taste" of how each team contributes to empowering voters and defending democracy.
When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 1-3 p.m.
Where: Hagen Ranch Library, Delray Beach
Registration is recommended on the LWVPBC website.
Note: This event is not sponsored or endorsed by the Palm Beach County Library System.
— Donna Colabella, Membership Co-Chair | A WARM-HEARTED WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MEMBERS
| Their contact information is available in the Member Directory at LWVPBC.org.
Catherine Sorrentino (Delray Beach), Michele Monahan (Palm Beach), Jacalyn Gibson (Loxahatchee) and Laura Schreiber (Boca Raton).
— Linda Sorenson, Membership
| |