League Committees & Teams

Voters Guide Questions Preparation Team

The Voters Guide is the League’s signature product available before every election. Each of the candidates for each race answer the same questions so voters can compare their answers. We have a new Questions Team to assure we are asking the most pertinent, impartial and unbiased questions. The Team collaborates with our Advocacy and Voters Guide teams to identify topics throughout the year.

Time demands are minimal most of the year, an estimated 8-10 hours of concentrated work effort before each Voters Guide. Check out the links below to view examples of previous Guides.

• May 2017 local elections — City council and school board races in smaller towns in Williamson and Travis Counties
• Presidential Primary and General elections every four years
• Midterm Primary and General elections every two years
• Local issue elections (for city council, school board, bonds, charter amendments, or other propositions) combined with Texas Constitutional Amendment Elections in the fall of odd-numbered years

The team also contributes questions for League-conducted candidate forums. Traditionally, this includes all City of Austin City Council and Mayoral races. This team may also contribute to researching, and writing descriptions for, ballot measures (bonds, propositions, amendments).

Team Lead role

• Create methods to collect questions from the general public and League membership (such as an online survey)
• Organize ideas and suggestions online via a Google tools
• Coordinate with Advocacy and Voters Guide leaders

Team Member role

• Research and monitor hot topics of interest in local communities
• Participate with team in determining topics of greatest interests for candidate races
• Develop impartial questions reflecting top topics
• Prepare clear descriptions of local entity ballot measures

Voters Guide Production Team

Our production team creates the Voters Guide for every election, and it includes editors, proofreaders, designers, coders, and translators. League members with a background in publishing are particularly valuable for this team. Time commitment varies according to role, with quick turnarounds needed during the month before early voting begins in each election cycle. This team is coordinated by the Voters Guide Director.

Voters Guide Distribution Team

This is the team who helps distribute our Voters Guide across Travis and Williamson Counties! We print and distribute hard copies of the Voters Guide for Presidential Primary and General elections and Midterm Primary and General elections. For each edition, we spend a day or two bundling the copies with cover sheets according to orders, and then we assign routes to individual volunteers to take the bundles to their distribution point. Estimated time commitment is one or two days for each distribution cycle and the volunteer will need to have their own vehicle for transporting bundles. This team is coordinated by the Distribution Chair. 

We educate and register high school and college students to vote. Members participating in this program must have availability during the school day, own a laptop computer, be a certified Volunteer Deputy Registrar (VDR), and be willing to present in front of groups of teenagers. Our program consists of a Powerpoint presentation that takes students through some education about voting trends, an activity that demonstrates the power of their voices, and information on the mechanics of voting in Travis County (modifications can be made for other counties). More information can be found here.

Engage citizens to register and to vote! We hold numerous events throughout the Austin Area to help do just that. Each VDR event needs a lead, who is responsible for transporting supplies from the office to and from the event site, setup, teardown, and managing the VDR volunteers during the event. Find more information about becoming a VDR.

Hosts discussion forums featuring candidates on local ballot races in the Austin area (County Commissioners, AISD, City Council, etc.).

The Observer Corps is a new opportunity for volunteers interested in learning about local government to attend or stream upcoming meetings of relevant community councils and boards.

Not only does an observer presence promote government transparency and hold elected officials accountable, but volunteer reports keep the public informed about what’s happening in their communities and allow the League to advocate on important local issues. The members of the Corps:

• Choose a local council, commission, board, or committee to observe (think City Councils, AISD board meetings, County Commissioners Court, etc).
• Attend meetings solo or bring a friend! Most all meetings can be viewed online from home.
• Get to know elected and appointed officials and make connections with media and the community.
• Make reports to the League using an easy online form. Some of your report highlights will be published on LWVAustin.org so the public can keep up with government events. Observer Corps Reporting Form
• Be proud helping the League Make Democracy Work^® in Austin!

Advocate for change at the local level with other League members. The Advocacy Committee utilizes the League’s policy positions as a guide to identify issues important to the community. We educate membership and the public on the issues, engage with the community, collaborate with like-minded organizations, and promote policies that make the Austin area a better place to live. Check the calendar for our every third Saturday of the month meeting.

Research and develop position statements on important policy concerns, such as housing, education, and healthcare. Our areas of advocacy are:

• Administration of Justice
• Affordable Housing
• Defending the Environment
• Education
• Healthcare
• Mobility

This team creates and publish social media postings on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

This team is responsible for the implementation, training, and maintenance for various technology tools LWV-AA uses. This include ClubExpress, Zoom, and GSuite.

This team is responsible for creating and publishing LWV-AA's monthly newsletter, The VOTER, and other eBlasts needed to communication with our members and newsletter distribution lists.

This group specializes in planning and organizing events. We have a team of 10-15 volunteers to help with food, drink, set-up, clean-up, and lock-up for our monthly evening events, monthly new member meetups, three general meetings (annual, holiday, fall kickoff), and other member and public-facing events.

• Provide appetizer, dessert, wine or punch for League meetings
• Set-up tables and seating
• Set-up electronics for presentations
• Clean-up and re-lock meeting spaces
• Greet and handle sign-in for member events
• Handle member payments at events using PayPal (training provided)

This team provides administrative support to the League office during weekday hours.