Julice Winter and I were pleased to represent you at the California Leadership Council in Sacramento May 6 and 7. We returned full of enthusiasm and ideas for the coming year.

At breakfast on Sunday morning we were able to pick table topics and exchange ideas with state leaders and League members from all over California. From the dozen topics possible, Julice chose the table topic �National Parks� and I chose �Health Care.� The diversity of table topics reflected the many interests of League members.

The highlight of the Council for me was the keynote speech on Saturday night given by LWVUS President Kay Maxwell. The following are some excerpts from her remarks.

�The League believes that American democracy is at risk and that now is the time to act. Years of Band-Aid solutions and neglect have allowed many of our government systems to grow weak. Our Democracy Agenda offers viable solutions to help overcome those weaknesses, and educate communities and citizens nationwide on how to improve things. This effort is about protecting our electoral processes through election reform efforts and reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act; advancing our representative government through nonpartisan redistricting; preserving our constitutional rights by safeguarding civil liberties; and protecting against governmental corruption through campaign finance and lobbying reform. . .

�Years of inattention and complacency have given us an election management system that is not up to the task. According to the Election Center, there are 7,000 different jurisdictions in this country responsible for overseeing 200,000 polling sites. The job of managing this system falls to 18,000 paid elections staff and 1.4 million poll workers, most of whom receive just two to three hours of training�if that. Poll workers and election officials in this country do a remarkable and vitally important job. But the system is failing them just as it is failing the voters.�

President Maxwell said the League has identified four steps that need to be taken to improve the administration of our elections. In summary they are:

1. Professionalization of election administration.
2. Put the �service� back in �voter service.�
3. Launch a wide-ranging research and development effort to apply 21st Century systems and technologies to the election process.
4. A substantial and sustained investment on the part of the federal government. Get real about the resources required to run elections in a way that is consistent with this nation�s democratic ideals.

She went on to say: �Another issue that goes to the heart of the democratic system is the controversy over partisan redistricting, or gerrymandering. This controversy is as old as the Republic. You probably know that the term gerrymander itself comes from Governor Gerry of Massachusetts, who created an election district so long and misshapen that it looked like a salamander�hence the name Gerry-mander. Today, with the advent of modern computers and growing partisanship, it is possible to create legislative districts where the results of an election will be known before any votes are cast or counted. This is just what is happening across the nation. And it threatens our democracy. . .

�The League espouses four basic redistricting principles for protecting the integrity of the electoral process. First, we support the bedrock constitutional guarantee of �one person, one vote.� Second, the redistricting process should promote full political participation by minority voters. Third, the redistricting process should be transparent and open to public participation. Finally, we oppose partisan gerrymandering because it subverts our democratic system. Representative democracy depends on the voters freely choosing their representatives rather than politicians choosing their voters.�

President Maxwell went on to talk about Civil Liberties and Campaign Finance and Lobbying Reform. In conclusion she said, �The League�s Democracy Agenda�election (Continued) reform and reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act; nonpartisan redistricting; safeguarding civil liberties; and campaign finance and lobbying reform�is also a citizen�s agenda. Neither the League nor any other organization can accomplish change without the involvement of citizens; and that means each and every one of you.�

Barbara Hempill