October 1989 Home   Newsletters

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January 1990

American Voter's Bill of Rights
President's Message (Arlene Ellis)
Honolulu Convention Center II (Astrid Monson)
Planning and Zoning Committee Up-date (Astrid Monson)
Public Participation in the Legislative Process (Evelyn Bender)
General Membership Meeting
League of Women Voters Presents - Choice (Linda Chinn)
Membership and Anniversary Dates
Advertising on Buses
Available for Circulation
Mythology of Growth and Transportation
UPW Vote Count
Editorial from Pacific Business News - 11/20 (George Mason)
Welcome
In Memoriam
Council Observer Corps

The American Voter's Bill of Rights

WHEREAS, the right of an American citizen to vote is the right that defines our democracy ...

AND, WHEREAS, the health of that democracy is dependent on the energy and resolve with which it safeguards this most precious and fundamental of rights, and thus encourages the citizen participation that is its greatest strength ...

THEREFORE, I join with The League of Women Voters in proudly asserting and supporting this American Voter's Bill of Rights and urge my elected representatives and leaders of the political parties to work toward enacting laws and party rules and actions that will make these principles a reality as quickly as possible.

WE FIRMLY BELIEVE ...

EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT ... to a simple and straightforward system of voter registration that accommodates citizen needs rather than bureaucratic convenience ...

EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT ... to political campaigns waged with respect for the electorate rather than irrelevant "insider" duels among campaign managers, media specialists and polling gurus ...

EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT ... to have issues addressed by the candidates in face-to-face political debates -- free of the control of image manipulators and their "campaigns by sound bite" tactics and free of negative campaigns built on smears, innuendo and hazy images ...

EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT ... to elections conducted under a system of campaign financing that reduces the influence and access of special interest groups. A system free of "bundling," "soft money," and the other loopholes aimed at subverting clean campaign finance codes ...

EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT... to see incumbents and challengers wage their campaigns on a level playing field. To that end we urge a system of limited and voluntary public financing measures ...

EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT... to more stringent disclosures and regulations of the so- called "independent expenditure" campaigns that have proven so excessive and abusive in the past ...

EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT... to expect a prompt end to the shameful practice of allowing long-time incumbents to divert unspent campaign funds to their personal use after retirement...

EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT ... to know that her or his vote counts. And that includes the right to live in a Congressional District whose boundaries have been equitably drawn to empower individual voters ...

AND, FINALLY, EVERY VOTER HAS THE RIGHT... to know that the United States government, and every individual elected to serve in that government, is forthrightly committed to these same principles as enumerated herein.

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