Emailing - League of Women Voters of South Central Texas

Today is National Voter Registration Day! Every September, communities across the country come together to help eligible citizens register to vote or update their registration before it's too late. Take a minute to check your own status, and share the reminder with a friend or neighbor — every registered voter strengthens our democracy.

Three things to do for democracy this week:

Check It Out, Like & Share: Hallettsville High School's Video for National Voter Registration Day. Students in the amazing journalism program at Hallettsville High School made a video for National Voter Registration Day (Sept 15)! Check it out on our League's Facebook page, like and share on your Facebook page! If you're not on Facebook, check it out on our YouTube channel and give it a thumbs up!

👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LWVSouthCentralTX/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/CiRpPHPSxiE?si=ey-CIJkgb7Y5V3fV

Spread the word: Skip VoteSafe.org, use trusted tools instead. Elon Musk's America PAC is promoting VoteSafe.org to check voter registration — but Snopes confirmed the site quietly changed its privacy policy to allow selling visitors' personal data. Share this with friends and family, and point them to VOTE411.org or Votetexas.gov instead — both are trustworthy, nonpartisan tools that don't harvest your data.

👉 https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/votesafeorg-elon-musk/

Contact Your Representatives. Protect Big Bend from Harmful Infrastructure! Urge Governor Greg Abbott and state officials to oppose border barrier construction on TPWD-managed lands in the Big Bend area and to use every legal and procedural tool available to protect this public trust. And while you're at it, check out the LWVTX's other Action Alerts and Take Action!

👉 https://tinyurl.com/3s2v6jf6

Tuesday, September 15 (National Voter Registration Day) - Cuero

As part of National Voter Registration Day, the League is partnering with Cuero High School (9:30 am–12:00 noon) to help students get registered ahead of the November 3 General Election. Thanks to Diana Austin for making this happen!

👉 Our goal is to offer this service in more South Central Texas high schools. If you have a relationship with a principal, school counselor or government teacher at the high school in your area and can help us get connected, we need your help! Contact Helen (512-497-1561) or Janis (361-772-3228) if you can help.

Thursday, September 17 - Flatonia

We've been invited to make a presentation about the League and our work at the September meeting of the Fayette County Democratic Party (11:30 am at Edna's Restaurant in Flatonia).

👉 We love invitations to talk to anyone about the League! If you're part of a group or know a group that's looking for a program for an upcoming meeting, contact Helen (512-497-1561) or Janis (361-772-3228) and we'll get the ball rolling! This is a great way to spread the word about the League.

Friday, October 2 (tentative with place tba)

Voters Guides for the November 3 election will be back from the printers and ready to distribute to area newspapers, libraries, and community locations around October 2. We're planning a work day to fold, count, and bundle Voters Guides - and then get them on their way to their intended destinations. The date, time and place for our workday will be confirmed once we know when we can pick up the Guides from the printer. Stay tuned!

👉 Candidate info is now live on VOTE411.org and we are hard at work on the printed Voters Guide. We're almost there!

Vote by Mail? Texas Doesn't Make It Easy

Co-President Janis Richardson recently wrote about a challenge facing Texas mail voters: no drop boxes, and in-person return is allowed only on Election Day at the County Elections Office — a poor backup for voters who are 65+, disabled, or out of town, since they're often the ones who can't easily show up in person. Meanwhile, USPS's handling of mail ballots remains tangled in federal litigation.

Read the full post for what this means for voters this cycle, and steps mail voters can take now to make sure their ballot counts.

👉 Here's the full post: https://tinyurl.com/LWVSCTX

Sharing a few headlines worth your attention this week:

Data Center Bans: A Growing Local Fight: Most existing data centers sit in metro areas, but roughly two-thirds of new facilities in the pipeline are headed for rural communities. A new Daily Yonder analysis finds nearly 700 proposed bans, moratoriums, and zoning restrictions nationwide — about a quarter of them in rural areas — with 151 already enacted across 34 rural counties. As data centers move into smaller communities, land use and electricity demand are landing on the agendas of local governments everywhere.👉 Read more - The Daily Yonder

Civics Education Gains Momentum Nationwide: State legislatures are increasingly prioritizing civic education. This spring, 40 states considered 245 bills on K-12 civic learning, with wins including new stand-alone courses in Alaska and Mississippi. The push has drawn genuinely cross-partisan support, including from a bipartisan trio of U.S. senators co-sponsoring a civics bill in Congress. 👉Read more - CivxNow

Texas's Open Records Laws Under Strain: Texas's Public Information Act and Open Meetings Act were once considered national models — but a new report finds officials increasingly sidestepping them, from routine deletion of texts and emails to years-long delays on records requests. Advocates say meaningful reform will require action from the Legislature itself. 👉 Read more - KERA

What Happens When Local News Disappears: New research finds that communities losing their local newspaper see measurable declines in civic engagement and voter turnout, along with increased political polarization and higher local government borrowing costs. As "news deserts" spread, residents end up less informed about decisions made in their own city halls and school boards. 👉 Read more - Fullerton Observer

Sign Up: Building Networks of Trust in a Digital Democracy Zoom Webinar

Sept 17 (3-4 Central Time)

Are you interested in understanding media literacy for democratic participation? Do you want to know the why behind how information moves online? In this webinar, League members will learn how and why the information environment feels different today. In addition, we'll explore how information spreads online and why it moves so fast. And finally, we'll take a deeper look at why rumors and misleading content travel further than the truth. You'll leave feeling energized and more knowledgeable about the tools and habits for thoughtful, healthy navigation online.

👉 Register Now to Participate

This is one in a series of webinars that our national League is offering. Check out what's coming up and recordings on ones that have already been offered here: https://www.lwv.org/league-management/events/lwv-election-2026-webinar-series.

Past Topics include:

Election Heroes: How Poll Workers Shape Our Democracy

Engaging Young People for Civic Participation in 2026

Engaging Spanish-Speaking Voters with VOTE411

Know Your Rights: Voter Intimidation and the 2026 Election

Meet the teen who registered 85% of her senior class

At 16, Jahnavi Rao felt shut out of decisions being made about her future. So she started a club at her high school — and by graduation, had registered 85% of her senior class to vote.

That sparked New Voters, a nonpartisan nonprofit she founded to help high schoolers nationwide run their own peer-to-peer registration drives. It's since registered over 80,000 students across 500+ high schools, and Jahnavi is now a 2024 L'Oréal Paris Women of Worth Honoree for the work — proof that one determined teenager can spark a movement.

Hear Jahnavi talk about New Voters and her work

Have a great day! See you next week!

Donate to support our League

Join the League or Renew Your Membership

League of Women Voters of South Central Texas

PO Box 78, Hallettsville, TX 77964

361.772.3228

lwvsouthcentraltx.org

lwvsouthcentraltx@gmail.com

Follow Us

Support Us

Contact Us