Registration, Voting and Census
1. REGISTRATION AND VCA
Are you ready to vote in the 2020 Primary?
New Voting Choices: What's the Voter's Choice Act (VCA)?
2. MAKING YOUR BALLOT DECISIONS
The place to start is Voter's Edge
Other Non Partisan Ballot Information
Partisan Sources of Ballot Information
If you are personally aligned with a particular party or point of view, these lists of endorsements may be helpful.
Newspaper Endorsements and Editorials -- Reading opinion pieces on both sides of a ballot proposition can be helpful in finding your own view. Newspapers also provide thoughtful written material in support of particular candidates for elected office.
2. CENSUS 2020
Census 2020: What do you need to know?
Are you ready to vote in the 2020 Primary?
- Check or update your voter registration online: https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov
- Are you registered as a "No Party Preference" voter? Which political parties let you vote in their primary? Not all do. Check your registration status and determine IF you want to change it and, if so, HOW to. Read more »
New Voting Choices: What's the Voter's Choice Act (VCA)?
2. MAKING YOUR BALLOT DECISIONS
The place to start is Voter's Edge
- Voter's Edge -- the League of Women Voters' voter education website, which includes information about races, candidates, and propositions/measures at all levels of government -- federal, state, and local
Other Non Partisan Ballot Information
- Ballotpedia: the digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections
- League of Women Voters of Palo Alto (LWVPA) Pros/Cons presentation: a video of League experts describing the pros and cons of the 2018 ballot propositions, available within weeks of election
- The Palo Alto City Council Forum: a video recording of the event hosted by LWVPA, available within weeks of election
- The Palo Alto School Board Forum: a video recording of the event hosted by LWVPA, available within weeks of election
Partisan Sources of Ballot Information
If you are personally aligned with a particular party or point of view, these lists of endorsements may be helpful.
- California Democratic Party List of Endorsements
- California Republican Party List of Endorsements
- California Libertarian Party Voting Guide, when available
Newspaper Endorsements and Editorials -- Reading opinion pieces on both sides of a ballot proposition can be helpful in finding your own view. Newspapers also provide thoughtful written material in support of particular candidates for elected office.
- Palo Alto Weekly
- Palo Alto Daily Post
- San Jose Mercury News
- Sacramento Bee
- LA Times
- Orange County Register
2. CENSUS 2020
Census 2020: What do you need to know?
Active Policy Reflection (APR)
If you are a Palo Alto League member, are you interested in joining in an exciting new Voter Education effort aimed at helping people make up their minds on ballot measures, what we call a "deep dive" into pros and cons?
This goes beyond the usual passive reading of the pro/con arguments. Instead, it walks participants through a process of active reflection about them. The process also involves group discussion, not to force groupthink but to help deep-dive participants make up their own minds.
Our team goal is to schedule and carry out these events between the publication of the LWVPA Voters Guide and the actual voting days in March and November. Open these slides to see an overview. If interested, contact Dan Zalles and danroyzal@gmail.com.
Final slide:
This goes beyond the usual passive reading of the pro/con arguments. Instead, it walks participants through a process of active reflection about them. The process also involves group discussion, not to force groupthink but to help deep-dive participants make up their own minds.
Our team goal is to schedule and carry out these events between the publication of the LWVPA Voters Guide and the actual voting days in March and November. Open these slides to see an overview. If interested, contact Dan Zalles and danroyzal@gmail.com.
Final slide:
Get Out the Vote (GOTV) Resources
See LWVPA's innovative ideas for getting registered voters to VOTE!
Women's Suffrage Timeline
From Santa Clara County’s “Women’s Equality 2020” (See here.)
This timeline is a chronological overview of the women's suffrage movement. While it covers dates ranging from 1840 to 2020, it is August 26th, 1920 that marks the legislative success of the women's suffrage movement.
Content of the timeline is drawn in part from summary and expanded timelines from websites posted in Santa Clara County’s “Women’s Equality 2020" Resources.
Year Event
1840 Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are barred from attending the World Anti-Slavery Convention held in London. This prompts them to hold a Women’s Convention in the US.
1848 The first women’s rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton writes “The Declaration of Sentiments,” creating the agenda of women’s activism for decades to come.
1850 The first National Women’s Rights Convention happens in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1866 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the American Equal Rights Association, an organization dedicated to suffrage for all regardless of gender or race.
1869 The women’s rights movement splits as a result of disagreements over the 14th and 15th Amendments. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and Julia Ward Howe organize the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).
1872 Susan B. Anthony is arrested for voting for Ulysses S. Grant in the presidential election. Fifteen other women are also arrested for illegally voting.
1878 A Woman Suffrage Amendment is proposed in the United States Congress.
1890 The National Women Suffrage Association, and the American Women Suffrage Association, merge to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
1893 After attending a meeting of the Jewish Women’s Congress at the Columbian Exposition, Hannah Greenbaum Solomon founds the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). Colorado becomes the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote.
1896 The National Association of Colored Women is formed, bringing together more than 100 Black women’s clubs.
1911 California grants women the right to vote.
1912 The Women’s Suffrage campaign is supported for the first time at the national level by a major political party, Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party.
1914 The National Federation of Women’s Clubs, which by this time included more than two million white women and women of color throughout the United States, formally endorses the suffrage campaign.
1916 Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first American woman elected to represent in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1919 The federal Woman Suffrage Amendment, originally written by Susan B. Anthony and introduced in Congress in 1878, is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is then sent to the states for ratification.
1920 On August 26th, The 19th Amendment, which grants women the right to vote, is signed into law.
1925 American Indian Suffrage Act passed by Congress.
1933 Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve in the cabinet. She was a key player in writing the New Deal legislation, including setting minimum-wage laws.
1935 Mary McLeod Bethune organizes the National Council of Negro Women, a coalition of Black women’s groups that lobbies against job discrimination, racism, and sexism.
1940 Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate.
1962 Native Americans gain voting rights in all states.
1972 Shirley Chisholm becomes the first Black female major-party presidential candidate.
1981 Sandra Day O’Connor is appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as the first woman on the Supreme Court.
2005 Condoleezza Rice becomes the first Black female Secretary of State.
2007 Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the House.
2008 Sarah Palin becomes the Republicans’ first female vice-presidential nominee.
2009 Sonia Sotomayor is nominated as the 111th U.S. Supreme Court Justice, becoming the first Hispanic American and the third woman to serve.
2016 Hillary Clinton went from first lady in the 1990s to the first female presidential nominee of a major U.S. party in 2016.
2017 Nikki Haley became the first Indian American to serve in a Cabinet-level position when President Trump selected her to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Catherine Cortez Masto is the first Latina elected to the United States Senate.
2020 On August 26th, honoring and celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote in the United States.
This timeline is a chronological overview of the women's suffrage movement. While it covers dates ranging from 1840 to 2020, it is August 26th, 1920 that marks the legislative success of the women's suffrage movement.
Content of the timeline is drawn in part from summary and expanded timelines from websites posted in Santa Clara County’s “Women’s Equality 2020" Resources.
Year Event
1840 Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are barred from attending the World Anti-Slavery Convention held in London. This prompts them to hold a Women’s Convention in the US.
1848 The first women’s rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton writes “The Declaration of Sentiments,” creating the agenda of women’s activism for decades to come.
1850 The first National Women’s Rights Convention happens in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1866 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the American Equal Rights Association, an organization dedicated to suffrage for all regardless of gender or race.
1869 The women’s rights movement splits as a result of disagreements over the 14th and 15th Amendments. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and Julia Ward Howe organize the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).
1872 Susan B. Anthony is arrested for voting for Ulysses S. Grant in the presidential election. Fifteen other women are also arrested for illegally voting.
1878 A Woman Suffrage Amendment is proposed in the United States Congress.
1890 The National Women Suffrage Association, and the American Women Suffrage Association, merge to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
1893 After attending a meeting of the Jewish Women’s Congress at the Columbian Exposition, Hannah Greenbaum Solomon founds the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). Colorado becomes the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote.
1896 The National Association of Colored Women is formed, bringing together more than 100 Black women’s clubs.
1911 California grants women the right to vote.
1912 The Women’s Suffrage campaign is supported for the first time at the national level by a major political party, Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party.
1914 The National Federation of Women’s Clubs, which by this time included more than two million white women and women of color throughout the United States, formally endorses the suffrage campaign.
1916 Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first American woman elected to represent in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1919 The federal Woman Suffrage Amendment, originally written by Susan B. Anthony and introduced in Congress in 1878, is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is then sent to the states for ratification.
1920 On August 26th, The 19th Amendment, which grants women the right to vote, is signed into law.
1925 American Indian Suffrage Act passed by Congress.
1933 Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve in the cabinet. She was a key player in writing the New Deal legislation, including setting minimum-wage laws.
1935 Mary McLeod Bethune organizes the National Council of Negro Women, a coalition of Black women’s groups that lobbies against job discrimination, racism, and sexism.
1940 Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate.
1962 Native Americans gain voting rights in all states.
1972 Shirley Chisholm becomes the first Black female major-party presidential candidate.
1981 Sandra Day O’Connor is appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as the first woman on the Supreme Court.
2005 Condoleezza Rice becomes the first Black female Secretary of State.
2007 Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the House.
2008 Sarah Palin becomes the Republicans’ first female vice-presidential nominee.
2009 Sonia Sotomayor is nominated as the 111th U.S. Supreme Court Justice, becoming the first Hispanic American and the third woman to serve.
2016 Hillary Clinton went from first lady in the 1990s to the first female presidential nominee of a major U.S. party in 2016.
2017 Nikki Haley became the first Indian American to serve in a Cabinet-level position when President Trump selected her to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Catherine Cortez Masto is the first Latina elected to the United States Senate.
2020 On August 26th, honoring and celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote in the United States.
