League Supporters,
Now that the general election is done, I would like to express my gratitude to all our election officers and poll workers. Despite our pandemic conditions and emergency changes, we made it through with flying colors. In the coming days, we will hopefully receive this election’s data to determine if we need to make any tweaks in the 2021 legislative session. But for now, let’s celebrate!
As we pivot toward the 2021 legislative session, if you are interested in pre-session preparations, which will begin soon, please let us know by completing this form: https://forms.gle/hPCT8exLN44PYJeH6
The Legislative Counsel Bureau has purchased redistricting software that includes a public map-drawing tool, so I reached out to Dr. Sam Wang at the Princeton Gerrymandering Project for assistance. He has introduced us to some Princeton graduate students who have agreed to work with us to offer trainings, via Zoom, on using this public tool. We will offer these trainings from mid-January to mid-February. You can sign-up for the trainings here: https://forms.gle/hPCT8exLN44PYJeH6
Additionally, Dr. Wang put me in contact with Princeton undergraduates who have created a free software tool that allows anyone to use Census data to create “communities of interest” maps. This will allow Nevadans to self-identify their own neighborhoods as communities of interest on maps that we will share with legislators. We can start offering training on using this software, which is called Representable, in December. You can review the program here: https://representable.org/
You can view a demonstration of the program here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l55X2BaFJz0
If you are interested in Representable training, please let us know here: https://forms.gle/SwGVeheN5RUW1Cqw7
Lastly, we are very excited to announce a civic engagement partnership with the Las Vegas Aces basketball team. Our first partnership event will be December 19, 2020, 11 am to 1 pm, via Zoom.
The League of Women Voters of Southern Nevada is hosting a Holiday Party on December 19th and our special guest is Aces player Carolyn Swords. During our first hour we will be looking forward to the year to come, including legislative opportunities, as well as looking back at our successes from the year past.
We will then chat with Carolyn about this partnership and a book the Aces players read in the lead-up to this election. The book is Democracy in One Book or Less. Anyone who would like to read the book beforehand, which is not necessary, can find it on Amazon in many different formats: https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-One-Book-Less-Doesnt/dp/0062879367
If you can join us for this Holiday Party, the public is invited to attend, please RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/lwvsn-holiday-party/
Please stay safe and secure,
Sondra
Vote Nevada 