Happy Holidays

As we close calendar year 2022, I have compiled a list of the Collin County League’s accomplishments showing our impact on our communities.  I am very proud of all that we have done, but it could not have been done without our wonderful Board and volunteers. I especially want to thank our Voter Service Vice President Janice Schieffer for her hard work in this busy election year.

As you read this impressive list, please consider making a year-end donation to the LWV Collin County.  All donations are needed and are fully tax deductible, as we are a 501(c)(3) organization.  You may mail a check to PO Box 866592, Plano 75086, or donate on our website by clicking the donate button at the top of the home page.

2022 Impact Report

Voters Guides

• 22,845 Collin County users accessed VOTE411
• 4,999 printable Voters Guides were downloaded from our website
• Distributed 4,000 bookmarks with voting information to libraries

Candidate Forums

• Produced 19 virtual candidate forums that were available on our website
• 2,209 views of the forums 
• Assisted with in-person candidate forums for Parker and Sachse city councils and Wylie and Princeton ISD trustees

Voter Registration

• Registered 816 voters
• Participated in 33 voter registration events: 10 at colleges, 10 for new citizens, 7 at high schools, 5 at community events/festivals, 1 at a senior residence
• Collaborated with Richardson and Dallas Leagues to register voters at monthly naturalization ceremonies

Program

• Hosted a virtual webinar with 3 panelists on “How Banning Books Undermines Democracy” and made it available on our website
• Hosted Bruce Sherbet, Collin County Elections Administrator, to review election processes in the county after each major election

Communication

• Monthly newsletters were sent to 550 members and friends
• Our website had 13,151 users and 45,395 pageviews
• Social media presence: 1097 Facebook followers, 210 Instagram followers, and 2,512 YouTube views

Membership

• Established a bi-monthly Book Club for members to read and discuss books of political and social interest
• Over 50 members volunteered their time for LWV’s mission to empower voters and defend democracy 

Join us on Wednesday, January 18th from 12 - 1p.m. on Zoom for an informative lunch & learn! Deborah Fleck, Letters Editor for the Dallas Morning News, will discuss how letters to the editor are chosen for publication and what you can do to be an effective letter writer.

About 30 members and guests gathered to socialize and listen to some great speakers:  Bruce Sherbet, Collin County Elections Administrator, Mihaela Plesa, newly elected Texas Representative from District 70, and County Commissioner Susan Fletcher (Pct. 1) all gave us much food for thought.  Below is a short recap of their remarks.

Bruce Sherbet:

A total of 366,000 ballots were cast in Collin County, or 52% of the registered voters. Of those, 266,000 voted during early voting, and 12,564 voted by mail (82% of the ballots requested).  The mail ballot application rejection rate was less than 1%, down from 25% in January 2022.

Our voter turnout rate was over the usual 30-40%, but down slightly from the record 2018 midterm election.  Collin County now has 114,000 more registered voters than in 2018.

Election worker training is essential, and training labs were instituted where workers can drop in to get one-on-one training.  In addition poll watchers received training on the entire election procedure and what their role is.  The sheriff’s department contributed by moving full ballot boxes from polling sites back to the Elections Office for counting, and they oversaw the required changing of voting equipment from early voting to election day.

One change he would like is for the school districts to have teacher in-service on election days.  We need to use schools to have enough polls for elections, but it would be better if children were not present.

Mihaela Plesa:

Ms Plesa’s priorities for the 88^th Legislative Session include public health and public school finance reform.  She would like to see a mental health allotment budgeted for schools.  Women’s health is a priority and maternal health and pre-natal care must be addressed.  She has already pre-filed HB 733 to establish a health literacy advisory committee as part of the statewide health coordinating council.  It would develop a long-range plan for improving health literacy in Texas.  She is excited to be assigned to committees and to build relationships in the legislature.

Susan Fletcher:

Ms. Fletcher is interested in public safety, transportation, and economic development in Collin County.  More courts are needed to handle our increased population. More funding is needed for the County Sheriff’s Dept., including body scanners for the jail. She wants to work with all people regardless of their political affiliation.

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