Rank Choice Voting Presentation
Keith Lovett joined out November 15th Steering Committee Meeting to discuss Rank Choice Voting (RCV). Keith presented a compelling argument to move to RCV since this would allow people to vote for candidates they truly support; not just candidates they think have a better chance at election. This supports a LWVMA support of State House and Senate Bills.
MAAV Contribution and Participation in the MAAV Walk
The LWV of Melrose was represented on the MAAV Walk. We contributed $1,470 to this annual walk.
LWV of Melrose Review of By Law Revisions
Anne DeSouza Ward made changes to the LWV of Melrose by laws. These changes are composed of:
- Required statements that LWVUS and LWVMA have directed to be made
- Bylaw amendment that was passed in 2007, but not yet incorporated into the document
- Small by-law changes that supported amended changes
These have been reviewed by the Steering Committee and are ready for presentation at Annual Meeting.
Archive Project
The bulk of the documents that were in storage have been scanned and are now in digital format. The materials are from 1949 to 2012. These materials include bulletins, newspaper articles, photographs, flyers, pamphlets and parts of LWV of Melrose directories.
Next steps will be discussed at the Annual Meeting.
Legislation Supported by LWV of Melrose
Although we have been largely working remotely, we have encouraged our members to contact our officials in support of several Local, State and Federal issues. These were predominantly concerned with voting laws and climate change.
Proposed library updates with an estimated cost of $20 million was only partially funded. The rest must be bonded. Encouraged members to contact their city councilors to support a bonding for the remainder of the funds.
Encouraged members to support climate bills
- H3302 (offshore wind and renewables)
- S2166: Enhanced renewable resources
- H.3350/S. 2202 Building and energy decarbonization
- H.3298/S.2158: Future of Heat (gas utilities)
Supported Votes Act on the State Level (including same day registration, which unfortunately did not make it to legislation)
Supported the John E. Lewis Voting Rights Legislation (Federal)
Supported state Rank Choice Voting legislation H825/S485
