Preparation for the 2024 presidential election is underway on the local level for the League of Women Voters of Oak Park-River Forest.
The league is actively curating a panel of experts for its Fall 2024 Kickoff event, which will discuss the fight against spreading misinformation and disinformation.
Jane Hastings, president of the Oak Park-River Forest League of Women Voters, said that the event is open to the public and will highlight the significance of the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation and its impact on democratic processes.
“Starting to get involved in fighting some of the disinformation and misinformation, I think, is a huge step for our organization,” Hastings said. “It’s satisfying to work with allies on promoting the fundamentals of democracy.”
The League of Women Voters of Illinois formed the Mis/Disinformation Task Force in January 2024 with the objective of educating the public on the topic. The task force has been providing support to the Oak Park-River Forest league as they prepare for the Fall Kickoff event, Hastings said.
In addition, the league has organized meetings in the past, such as candidate forums, which includes individuals running for local political offices, school boards, village boards, library boards, and more. The forums are organized by the league, which is a non-partisan organization, and allow for candidates to introduce the messages of their platform and answer questions from attendees.
“[The candidate forums] were about not necessarily persuading anybody to change their minds, but to see each other as valid humans with good points and will hear you and acknowledge you,” Hastings said. “Political discourse is really healthy for democracy.”
The league serves the three neighborhoods of Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park. Improving the accessibility for residents to become engaged with local politics and having their voice heard in these candidate forums is very important to the league.
Tina Birnbaum, co-vice president of the league, said that the candidate forums are recorded on Zoom so residents can access the recordings at their convenience. Throughout one year, the viewership increased dramatically for these recordings, which was approximately 3,500 online visitors.
The recordings allow for people to be introduced to the personalities of the candidates and hear their platforms in an authentic way, Birnbaum said.
“It’s one thing to read it,” Birnbaum said. “It’s another thing to see and hear the actual candidate talking about that issue.”
The candidate forums are one of the various initiatives organized by the league that ties back to one of the main objectives of the organization, which is voter education.
“Part of the commitment to the women’s vote was making sure they had good, non-partisan, factual information to make their decisions,” Hastings said. “That is very much a historical tenant of the league.”
The national League of Women Voters was founded as a successor to the National American Women Suffrage Association in Chicago in 1920. Under the leadership of suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, it was formed by the leading suffragists that secured the right to vote for women in the United States.
Four years after the 19th Amendment was ratified, the Oak Park-River Forest League of Women Voters was established. Since then, the league has helped residents overcome any restrictions or barriers to voting.
“We really try to encourage people to vote,” Birnbaum said. “We’re all about getting people involved in government. That’s a huge issue for us…the league is about advocating for empowering voters and defending our democracy and lately there’s been a lot to do in those two areas.”
The Oak Park-River Forest League of Women Voters collaborated with leagues across the state of Illinois to produce the Illinois Voter Guide, which provides residents with information on where, how and when they can vote for public officials.
The league also hopes to serve as an example for other states in the country that do not make voting education resources accessible, Birnbaum said.
“[Illinois] does well in letting people vote, but we’re a part of the national league and there’s other states where it’s very difficult for people to vote,” Birnbaum said. “Polling places have been eliminated, barriers to voting have been erected.”
When Hastings considered the motivations for the league’s efforts, her answer was clear and simple.
“Everybody’s vote should count,” Hastings said.