(From LWVFL website – June 2025)
This is your League!
Whether you’re a woman or a man, a student or a retiree, a newcomer or a Florida native, we welcome you and thank you for your interest in making our state a better place!
You belong to one of the nation’s most widely recognized, respected, and effective citizen organizations. Check out our list of recent accomplishments and know that the League helps you leverage your ideas, effort, and passion. You’ll learn even more about important issues, take actions that will help bring about better government, contribute to your community, state and nation, and make lifelong friends!
In the League, we are not all intellectuals or organizers. We don’t all think alike or support the same political party. We aren’t all public speakers. We are not all bundles of energy. Most of us have little time to spare. But together, when combined and united, we make up one of Florida’s most respected and effective civic organizations.
We strive to give you the basic information you need to be an active and vital member. The League can help you be an interested, informed and engaged citizen, while you add your voice and ideas and energies to help the League.
This is your League. The more time and talent you are willing to invest, the more you will gain from being a member. Be active. Get involved. Do what you can. There’s no shortage of opportunities!
What is the League?
The League of Women Voters of the United States was organized in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt shortly before the Women’s Suffrage Amendment was ratified. Its principal aim was to help newly enfranchised women become politically educated, responsible voting citizens. Today there are over 700 Leagues in every state, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands with about 130,000 members and supporters.
The Florida League was formed in 1939 by three local Leagues then in existence: St. Petersburg, Winter Haven, and Winter Park-Orlando. There are now 29 local Leagues in the most populous counties with thousands of members and supporters. One of the League’s very first issues — which we have almost seen to fruition — is the need to reduce and end gerrymandering. It was one of the first issues the League identified to work on back in 1939.
Over the years, the League has opened a door to intellectual activity and involvement in political life. Local politicians depend on League members to bring them well-researched, valuable opinions. The League has studied many issues and has been active in calling for changes and reforms. It has served as a training ground for many community leaders and is determined to continue to be a pertinent and meaningful citizen voice in local governance.
Voting is Our Thing!
The League’s mission statement is, “Empowering voters. Defending democracy.”
The League envisions a democracy where everyone has the desire, the right, the knowledge, and the confidence to participate.
We believe in the power of women to create a more perfect democracy.
The League neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office. However, individual members are urged to be active in the political process.
Voting membership is open to any person at least 16 years old living in the United States. A person joining a local League automatically becomes a member of the state and national levels of the organization.
View the League’s mission and a brief history on the LWVFL and on the LWVPBC website.
How is The League is Organized?
The structure of the League — a grassroots organization — parallels the representative system of government we live under. Just as local, state, and national governments are interdependent with the individual citizen as the base, our members determine the policies and program at all League levels. The president of each level speaks for the organization.
At each level of League, Boards of Directors are elected or appointed to manage activities. The local agenda-setting meeting is called the Annual Meeting. At this meeting, officers are elected, dues and budgets are set, bylaws are changed, and issues to be studied or acted on are selected.
Setting the agenda at an annual meeting.
At the state and national levels, recommendations on officers and program begin with members at local meetings called for this purpose. The final decisions are then made at either the appropriate state or national biennial Convention, composed of delegates representing Leagues in a number proportionate to their membership. In alternate years, national and state Councils of Leaders, composed of two delegates from each League or state are held. Because these Councils are not proportionately representative of the membership, they may not adopt new program emphases.
As a grassroots organization, the League encourages members to express themselves to their leaders on any League concern. Members are always welcome at any Board meeting or state or national Convention, where they can speak up to persuade and to vote if they are board members or delegates.
What Does the League Do?
The League is an action group. However, it may act only on issues that have been extensively studied and on which the members are agreed. Such activities have fostered the League’s reputation for thorough study, which is pivotal to the League’s political effectiveness. Action may take several forms as appropriate but always begins with study.
Each year the League decides on an action agenda, which is called program. The action involved may be a first-time League study of an issue, an update of a previous study, or action on an issue on which the League has come to member agreement. Members are encouraged to voice their priorities at program-making meetings.
We are involved in Florida issues like fair redistricting.
Many considerations come into play as the choices for focus are made: Is governmental action necessary for a solution to the problem? Is the issue important enough to inspire sufficient member interest and commitment? Can the League be effective on the issue? Would League efforts duplicate that of another public interest group? Is it an idea whose time has come politically? Is underwriting necessary and/or available? The appropriate-level League Board filters this grassroots input into its recommendations to the Annual Meeting or Convention, which will decide the final program. In the process, the scope, emphasis, and methodology of the study or action will be defined.
Once the program items are selected, study or action committees for each focus begin their work. Any member may participate, and these small groups provide wonderful opportunities for growth, networking, and friendships.
If the focus is a study, once the issue appears to have been adequately explored by members, it’s then time to see if there is member agreement on which future action can be based. Unlike some public interest organizations, the League does not rely on majority votes — rather, it tries to find a consensus. Through member discussion of specific key questions, a “sense of the group” is arrived at by the exchange of ideas and opinions. This parallels the give-and-take of legislative-body decision making. Sometimes, no member agreement is reached.
When a consensus is found, the board reviews the process and ratifies it. The board selects the exact wording that best expresses the League’s point of view on the issue, and this becomes the basis for League actions. These statements of consensus are called positions.
Besides consensus, there are two other bases on which the League may act. One is called the concurrence process. This is reserved for those few issues on which further study seems redundant. A League’s membership or its board may concur with the recommendations of a task force, a League resource committee, decision statements formulated by League boards, or positions reached by other Leagues.
Some years ago, some beliefs about government seemed so basic and incontrovertible that they were formulated into League principles, and action can be based on these also.
League positions often are expressed in general terms so that they can be used to act on many facets of an issue over time. They do not usually spell out one specific solution. Instead, they are often supplemented with a list of criteria that are useful in judging the merits of a particular proposed solution. The League calls these lists of criteria yardsticks. It’s not necessary for a proposal to comply with every criterion on a yardstick for it to secure League support.
League positions remain in effect until re-evaluation is appropriate. For a full text of specific national and state policy positions, members are urged to view the current copy of LWV Florida’s Study and Action on the LWVFL website.
Only the president or president’s representative speaks in the name of the League. Individual members may not put forth League positions in public testimony or letters-to-the-editor but may suggest that the president do so. However, they are encouraged to speak or write as informed individual citizens.
League action takes many forms. It may be appropriate to lobby, monitor meetings, write letters, make speeches, poll citizens, circulate petitions, put out publications, form coalitions, or even go to court. Basically, an action program aims to increase public awareness of an issue and secure a resolution consistent with League goals.
View a glossary of terms commonly used by the League at the end of this document.
Voter Service & Education
This very important area of League activity helps provide community-wide recognition and support for the entire League. It’s often what the community thinks of first when the League is mentioned. Voter service activities take many forms: sponsoring candidate meetings, debates and interviews, publishing candidate responses to questionnaires, registering citizens to vote, making voting information available, sponsoring get-out-the-vote campaigns, and publishing background materials on current public issues and lists of sources of information on these issues.
Learning together at League events
By raising issues and providing information on all sides of the issue, League citizen information activities attempt to help voters think through public issues and reach their own decisions. These activities are distinct from the League’s action agenda, which may call for League to be working for a particular resolution of an issue. Because voter service activities do not take sides on issues, they may be funded by 501(c)(3) tax-deductible contributions to the League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund or, on the national level, the League of Women Voters Education Fund.
How is The League is Financed?
Dues are a major source of income, although they are kept low enough to allow most interested citizens to join. A large portion of local dues goes to support the state and national levels of League through assessments called Per Member Payments (PMP). These PMPs make local fundraising beyond dues imperative. All members are asked to give some of their time or money to local fund drives.
League Meetings
General meetings of the entire membership can be supplemented with committee meetings, or a smaller meeting called a unit, which meets at a place and time convenient to a segment of members. The goal is to increase participation opportunities.
League Principles
• The League of Women Voters believes in representative government and in the individual liberties established in the Constitution of the United States.
• The League of Women Voters believes that democratic government depends upon the informed and active participation of its citizens and requires that governmental bodies protect the citizen’s right to know by giving adequate notice of proposed actions, holding open meetings and making public records accessible.
• The League of Women Voters believes that every citizen should be protected in the right to vote; that every person should have access to free public education that provides equal opportunity for all; and that no person or group should suffer legal, economic or administrative discrimination.
• The League of Women Voters believes that efficient and economical government requires competent personnel, the clear assignment of responsibility, adequate financing, and coordination among the different agencies and levels of government.
• The League of Women Voters believes that responsible government should be responsive to the will of the people; that government should maintain an equitable and flexible system of taxation, promote the conservation and development of natural resources in the public interest, share in the solution of economic and social problems that affect the general welfare, promote a sound economy and adopt domestic policies that facilitate the solution of international problems.
• The League of Women Voters believes that cooperation with other nations is essential in the search for solutions to world problems and that the development of international organization and international law is imperative in the promotion of world peace.
League Glossary
Definitions of terms commonly used by the League of Women Voters
Action or Advocacy - Support for or opposition to legislation or policies at the local, state or national level. The League may only advocate for or against issues on which the League has an applicable position or principle.
Action to Educate – The League also provides factual information on such issues as voter registration and public policies such as the “Help America Vote Act” which changed the election process.
Annual (Business) Meeting - The yearly business meeting of local Leagues at which they elect officers and directors, adopt a budget, consider bylaws amendments and adopt the local League program.
Concurrence – The act of agreement by League members with a statement or position. The concurrence could be with the report of a League committee, a position previously taken by another League or a decision statement formulated by a League board. Prior to concurrence, local Leagues must be provided information on the subject.
Consensus – Agreement among a substantial number of members representative of the whole membership reached after objective study and group discussion.
Convention – The biennial League business meeting at the state or national level. State conventions are held in odd-numbered years, and the national convention is held in even-numbered years. The business purpose is to elect officers and directors, adopt program and a two-year budget, and approve bylaws changes. In addition to the business purpose of conventions, convention attendees have access to workshops, speakers and panels on subjects of League interest.
Council – A biennial League business meeting at the state or national level. State council is held in even-numbered years between conventions. National council is held in odd-numbered years. The purpose is to adopt any revised budget figures for the second year of the budget adopted at the previous convention and to review the work on program items. Workshops and speakers are also part of the Council agenda.
Education Fund – A tax-exempt educational arm of the League. The national and state leagues each have an Education Fund. A local League may have its own Education Fund, or it may choose to let the state League hold those funds. The Education Fund facilitates citizen participation by providing information to the public on voter registration, public policy issues and government processes. Also, see Action to Educate.
General Fund - The LWVAL or local League General Fund supports the League organization (administration, membership, the member newsletter) and League program that includes study and advocacy.
General Meetings – Meetings to which all members are invited. The public is often invited to general meetings that deal with issues of general or community interest.
Honorary Life Member - A person who has been a League member for 50 years or more. Life members are excused from dues payment and their Leagues pay no per member payment (PMP) for them to the state or national Leagues.
Issue for Emphasis – An area of one or more League positions to which League energy and resources are directed. Action can involve lobbying, media releases, public meetings, development of League publications, etc. Local and state Leagues may use the term “Priorities for the Year” instead of Issues for Emphasis.
ILO - Acronym for an Inter-League Organization, formed by local Leagues within a county, metropolitan area or region to act on issues that are beyond the local League area in scope. (As of this writing, July 20, 2017, there are no ILOs in Alabama.)
MAL - Acronym for Member-At-Large, a member of the state League who resides outside the area of, and is not enrolled in, a local League.
MAL UNIT - A state-recognized group of Members-At-Large, in an area where there is no local League.
Mission Statement - The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
Note - Mission Statement for Education Fund: The League of Women Voters Education Fund is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and works to increase understanding of major public policy issues.
Orientation – Information to help members understand the purpose of the League, its policies, and how it does business. Leagues hold new member orientations for the above purpose.
PMP - Acronym for Per Member Payment. the amount local Leagues pay per member to state and national Leagues to support the League’s work on those levels. The amount of the PMP is determined by convention vote.
Portfolio – The specific area of responsibility of a board or off-board member.
Position – A written statement of the point of view of a League on a public or government issue. The position is formulated after objective member study and agreement by consensus or concurrence. Positions are the basis for League action, i.e. advocacy for or opposition to legislation or public policy. Without position or a principle on which to base action, the League does not have authority to act.
Program – The collection of governmental or public policy issues of concern adopted by the members of the League for study or action. The League's position on an issue is adopted after objective study and consensus discussion by the members. League members may also adopt an issue position based on concurrence. (See definitions of consensus and concurrence.) Action may be taken by the League only after a position on that issue has been adopted as part of the Program through the process of consensus or concurrence. New positions are adopted by the members at annual meetings or conventions. Existing positions are readopted at the same meetings.
Purpose of League - See Mission Statement.
Study – The process by which members of a League learn about an issue adopted as part of its Program. The League assigns study items to a committee whose responsibility is to research the topic, define the issues, produce study/background material, propose the consensus questions to the appropriate board, provide study consensus materials to local Leagues, consolidate member responses to consensus questions, and propose a position to the League's board of directors. The study committee and the relevant board have the responsibility to ensure that the League study upholds the League’s commitment to objective research and definition of the issues and that the consensus/concurrence of members on study issues is accurately reflected in the position statement.
Unit Meetings – Smaller groups of local League members who meet at a set time and place. The size of the League determines the number of unit meetings held. The purpose of unit meetings is to study and discuss program items, register opinions of members if a consensus or concurrency is on the table, learn about new items or deal with organizational issues. In large Leagues that cover several governmental jurisdictions, some unit meetings may be devoted to specific local government issues of particular interest to the members of that unit.
Voter Guide - A publication that provides nonpartisan information about candidates and/or ballot referendums (such as proposed state constitutional amendments). Information might include a description of the office for which the candidates are seeking election, office qualification requirements, length of term, candidate biographical information and qualifications, and candidate answers to questions regarding the candidate's position on relevant issues. Preparation, publication, and distribution of Voter Guides are funded by the League's Education Fund.
Voter Service – Activity to objectively educate and encourage citizens to be politically active. Voter registration, nonpartisan information about candidates or ballot measures (voter guides), and candidate forums are voter service activities for which the League is most well-known. Voter Service falls under Education Fund activity.