LWVOKC November 2023 Newsletter
LWVOKC PODCAST
"Tushalicious Talk"
Click HERE to hear the Tushalicious Talk podcast "When to Put a Protective Order on Yo Baby Daddy" discussing the Power & Control Wheel and Domestic Violence Awareness Month with Hillary Burkholder, Palomar OKC's CEO. Wear purple on Thursday, 10/19 and support www.PalomarOkc.org for family assistance in Oklahoma County.
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Click HERE to hear the Tushalicious Talk podcast "What the Heck is an Initiative Petition?" with Cindy Alexander from Indivisible Stillwater, and LWVOK Board Member, Stephanie Henson as we discuss Initiaive Peitions in layen's terms to make it make sense! Email office.admin [at] lwvokc.org to get connected to the Direct Democracy Team!
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HOW DO I CONTACT MY LEGISLATOR?
To contact your legislators with your opinion on any issue, please visit:
letsfixthis.org
and click on the RESOURCES tab which will prompt you to enter your address and then locate your personal legislators!
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Oklahoma Statistics
- Oklahoma's disenfranchised population (aka persons with felonies who cannot vote) in 2020 was 56,995.
- Oklahoma does not have a statewide law that expressly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Oklahoma’s grade for women’s Employment & Earnings, D, has remained the same since the 2004 Status of Women in the States report.
- Oklahoma ranks 41st nationally for the share of women in poverty; compared with 14.5 percent of Oklahoma’s men.
- Blacks, Native, and Latinx populations are underrepresented at voting polls.
- (76% White, 7% Black, 2% Asian, 6% Hispanic or Latino, 8% Native American)
- 11% of LGBT adults in Oklahoma reported being unemployed compared to 5% of non-LGBT adults.
SOURCES:
2019 | Discrimination Against LGBT People in Oklahoma
2018 |The Economic Status of Women in Oklahoma
2020 | Discrimination in Oklahoma’s Criminal Justice System
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LWVOKC Reads John Thompson
John Thompson, a valued member of the Oklahoma County League of Women Voters, is an Old School liberal Democrat, who has prioritized the bridging of differences with conservatives and Republicans. Read his latest op-ed HERE!
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Voting Using the Audio Tactile
Interface Device at the Polls
by Rhonda McLean
November 2022
Today was a new voting experience. Nancy Ward, who is a voting rights advocate for the disabled, encouraged me and others at our Advocacy Planning meeting to request the Audio Tactile Interface (ATI) when voting. This is a device that reads the ballot to those with vision impairment and allows them to cast their ballots independently, without assistance beyond the device. Nancy shared that it is important for poll workers to practice helping voters use this device and encouraged attendees at our meeting to request the option of using the ATI option.
I'm very pleased to announce that the poll worker at my precinct was very happy to allow me to use the device, and we learned it together. We also discussed that there is a step up into the polling place, and how they could direct those who can't go up a step to a ramped entrance.
New Option for Visual Impaired Voters
The 2022 legislative session brought in a new law that would give Oklahoma voters who are visually impaired the option of voting electronically in future elections. The new law will be effective on July 1, 2023.
Oklahoma voters who are blind to electronically receive ballots in future elections, July 2022, OKDR
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LWVOKC & Almonte Librarian Serina Freeman!
Serina is the south side librarian and engagement manager. Listen HERE as we discuss summer reading, Almonte's new location, and our monthly event Spill the Beans Community Coffee which meets on the first Thursday of every month. Visit www.metrolibrary.org/summerreading soon!
(click on the image to be redirected to the Spotify Podcast)
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LWVOKC Criminal Justice Reform Information
2022
The League of Women Voters of the United States defines studies as a "process lasting one to three years, during which we undertake thorough pursuit of facts and details, both positive and negative, and come to consensus about policy….Consensus is the overall decision-making process by which substantial agreement among members is reached on an issue. Often this happens over the course of several meetings, but may include surveys and other methods. If the members reach consensus, the board forms recommended positions based on that consensus. Those recommendations are submitted to the Study Committee." If you would like to comment or contribute on the current study of Criminal Justice Reform in Oklahoma, please email office.admin [at] lwvokc.org!
REPORT
PowerPoint
(click on image)
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For LWVOKC's November 2021 Educational & Informational Meeting, Marilyn Lamensdorf, who is the Program Planner in Oklahoma City’s Planning Department spoke about the City’s existing zoning code and their upcoming Code Update Project. Click here to view the full PowerPoint Presentation, or here to see the Recorded Zoom Meeting.
