Voters Service Committee

League of Women Voters^®
of the Upper Valley

The League aims to inform voters in many various ways. New members of the League often begin by working on Voters Service (VS) projects, then go on to use what they have learned through these experiences to become leaders in the League or to serve in public office.

The League does not support or oppose any political party or any candidate, its candidate forums and other voter services are strictly nonpartisan. The League aims to provide voters with fair and balanced information with which to compare and contrast candidates. Voters should be able to be informed about their choices before entering the voting booth.

The Upper Valley League, as a regional organization, facilitates VS activities in area towns where there are enough members to do the work.

Hanover. Norwich. Town Brochures. Publications.

Hanover Voters Service and Citizen Information 2003-2004

This year the Voters Service Committee met monthly at the new Richard Black Hanover Community Center. We continued to work with the recommendations made in the 2001 Voter Participation project.
At this point our primary focus is to observe Hanover Town Meeting and the Dresden and Hanover School District meetings and provided both the Select Board and the School Boards with our feed back and suggestions. We have made some very specific suggestions as to the format of the Town/School Reports in the hopes of making these documents as voter friendly and informative as possible and have continued to suggest ways to all the Boards on how to increase participation.
As always, we have continued to put out the sandwich boards to notify voters of upcoming votes. On a sad note, our VOTE banner was severely damaged by wind. Willie Black, Hanover Town Moderator, helped us get it repaired in time for the May Town Meeting.
We would like to invite any new and old members to join this committee and to observe town and school meetings. At many meetings the committee members seem to be the only ones in attendance, especially the School Board meetings. There is much more to do and lots of room for improvement and many ways the Voters of our community could be better informed. In this age of "mis-information" a nomer we take from our esteemed leader Ruth-Ann Groh, we can't think of a more important charge.
Hope Stragnell and Kari Asmus

Norwich Voters Service

The League, working with the Norwich Women's Club, aims to hold a candidate forum for any contested election in Norwich. Most recently a Candidates Forum was held on Wednesday February 25 at the Marion Cross School in Norwich. Mindy Penny from the Women's Club introduced the candidates and Lizann Peyton was asked by the League to be the facilitator. There was a very large turnout (at least 150 people) of citizens who were all concerned with the future direction and growth of the town.
Jane Sargent

Voters Service Town Brochures

Voter Guides, which are directories of local officials, are produced annually for the towns of Hanover, Lyme and Norwich. They are prepared as soon as possible after the town meetings. Delays are caused by the time it takes to fill vacancies on appointed town boards and commissions. The Guides are available at libraries and town offices. Other suggestions for distribution would be welcome.

Publications

For decades Leagues around the country have been writing guides to their local government. Called "Know Your Town," these guides are a valuable resource for voters. The picture at the right, taken in 1976, shows Betty Mayer and Mary Schultz presenting a copy of latest edition to Patti Eckles, Director of the brand new Howe Library.
Since 1999, we have called these booklets "Know Your Government: A Hanover Citizens' Guide" and "Know Your Community Services." The former explains how town and school government work in Hanover and the latter describes services provided by Hanover Town and by local nonprofit organizations. Both are distributed free of charge thanks to the generosity of our contributors. Copies are available at Hanover Town Hall, the Howe Library and the Etna Library.
We thank Editor Mary Munter and all those who have worked to make these helpful and accurate handbooks.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: January 26, 2012 07:05 PST.