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Dear LWV Wilco members and friends,
Instead of a monthly newsletter (more about that below), this month I’m sending you a newsy presidential update. I hope you will take a few minutes to read all of the information and updates below.
COMMUNICATIONS CHANGES
You may have noticed that we did not distribute a newsletter this month. Our Communications Coordinator, Christine Attoun, moved to California recently and resigned from the Board last month. Christine has been a critical part of our League since its beginning, and served in several leadership and Board positions as we have needed her. We are so grateful to Christine for her years of service! We hope you will join us in wishing her and her husband Frank well in their new California adventures.
In the event of a mid-term Board resignation, the Board has the responsibility of electing a replacement. Last week we elected Toni Gatlin to serve as Communications Coordinator. She will finish out Christine’s term (which ends in May 2026). Please help us welcome Toni Gatlin to the Board! You can reach her at Communications@LWVWilco.org.
Here’s a bit about Toni: “Despite a lifelong interest in politics and the workings of government, Toni Gatlin came late to the actual ballot box, casting her first vote at age 38 after realizing that raising her voice as a voter was one of the most powerful ways she could love her neighbor and seek the good of her community. When she's not registering more voters or leaving opinionated voicemails for elected officials, she's camping with her husband and their dog, reading, watching British TV, or, as a last resort, studying to complete her (also late-in-life) marketing degree.”
LET’S CELEBRATE ALL OF OUR GOOD WORK!
In case you missed it: Williamson County had the highest voter turnout (69.4%) of all Texas counties with over 200K registered voters. And leading into the election, we learned that for the first time, over 90% of all who are eligible were registered to vote in time for the election. We achieved this milestone despite the rapid population growth in our area!
I adore sharing statistics that show just how much we’ve accomplished. Here are some from this year that I invite you to celebrate:
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We registered 3,523 voters in 2024. (Compare that to 1,002 in 2023.)
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We gave out an additional 1,282 mail-in applications after having one-on-one conversations with community members.
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We held 163 Voter Registration events between June 1 and Oct. 7 alone.
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We presented First Vote! to over 2,500 Williamson County high school seniors in Fall 2024 before Deadline Day.
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We registered 287 new citizens at 6 Naturalization Ceremonies at the Round Rock Library in 2024.
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Since June 1 of this year, 141 individual volunteers donated over 1,800 hours, just at voter registration events alone! We also donated hundreds of hours to the Elections Office, and hundreds more to the preparation and distribution of the Voters Guide.
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We started a new program at the Williamson County Jail called Free the Vote Wilco. We registered over 75 voters there and helped all who were interested to apply to vote by mail. We hope to be able to continue this program under the new sheriff.
We are especially proud of our new working relationship with the Williamson County Elections Department. Dozens of us volunteered at the office during Elections season. Even before deadline day we helped register voters, input data, and stock supply boxes. On Deadline day itself we helped register almost 1,200 voters. During Early voting and on election day we answered phones, processed mail-in ballots, and alphabetized all the things. Bridgette Escobedo (our Elections Administrator) and Kristine Heimerman (our Deputy Elections Administrator) were so appreciative of all we did. They even honored us as Election Heroes at the November 19 Commissioners Court meeting. Thank you to everyone who was part of these efforts! As far as we know, no LWV chapter in Texas has ever partnered with their Elections Officials in this way. And we can only do this work because of our amazing volunteers!
What’s striking to me is that we have accomplished all of this even though we are still so young as a League. Our League was founded in 2019, but only became an official League 2 years ago. Look at us grow!
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