A letter to my friend Mary Alice and YOU

I know the stroke you had has sidelined you from the work you’ve done for years as a leader of the local League of Women Voters. I can’t imagine how frustrating it is, given all that is at stake, for you not to be standing in the courtyard of First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto waving people into the Fellowship Hall for a candidate’s forum, or handing out the League’s fantastic guidance on all of the propositions, explanations free from bias that have helped literally millions of people navigate the word soups that are initiatives. Your loving husband Dave, I know, is sitting by your side as you watch the shenanigans of folks running on the left and the right, some pundits getting the stories completely right and others getting the stories completely wrong, and wanting to jump out of that bed and give people the tools they need to make sense of it all.

Please don’t be too frustrated! Here in California and especially around the Peninsula, millions of people, realizing that they need to cut through the gibberish, are finding their way to the League’s great resources. Gosh — Mary Alice — You’ve been part of something that has been around since 1920, before the 19th Amendment was ratified! It was, as the League describes it on their website, “a mighty political experiment” designed to help the newly enfranchised 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters. After World War II, the League actually helped create the United Nations and was one of the first NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) recognized by the U.N.! The League fought for the Equal Rights Amendment to be ratified. The League even got an Emmy for sponsoring the first televised presidential debates!

You were part of a League that helped get the National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter) law passed and millions of Americans have registered to vote when they got their driver’s licenses or registered their cars since 1993. When folks encounter problems at the ballot box they are guaranteed to at least get a provisional ballot because of the Help America Vote Act that you and the League helped turn into law in 2002. In 2006, you and the League launched VOTE411.org, a one stop shop for voting information for every inch of America, including a nationwide polling place locator, a ballot look-up tool, and candidate positions on key issues. Wow.

I know that in 2020 you celebrated the League’s 100th anniversary, with 750 local chapters all around the country. Mary Alice — I can’t think of any other organization in America that has done so much for so long for so many. Most amazingly, despite the fact that most of the women I know, like our friend Ellen Forbes who also served as president of the Palo Alto League, are incredibly passionate about issues and candidates, the League has always been nonpartisan, which it continues to be even in these hyper-partisan times.

So, my dear friend, I’ve got my League voter guides queued up with my sample ballot and your spirit is encouraging me to dig in and vote. When I turn on the TV on election eve, I’ll be thinking of you in Palo Alto watching too. I want to make sure that you know how grateful I am for decades of you handing out League pamphlets and fighting for everyone’s right to vote. And, I look forward to a day that I hope comes soon, when you’ll be standing with us once again in the courtyard at church, so I can hug you with thanks.

Dear readers, let’s also share our thanks with the South San Mateo and North and Central San Mateo County chapters of the League covering dozens of municipalities and lots of candidates. Get the info you need from your local chapter and exercise your right to vote that so many have fought and died for! Mary Alice and I are counting on you.

Craig Wiesner is the co-owner of Reach And Teach, a book, toy and cultural gift shop on 25th Avenue in San Mateo.