Watch What Happened Next!
In November 2021, The LWV Catawba Valley was awarded a $10,000 Redistricting Adopt-A-Jurisdiction Grant by SOLVE (Southern Leadership for Voter Engagement).
The expectations were that all activities would be planned and implemented within one year. Below is a summary of all that LWVCV did during that period. Many of the activities were also accompanied by articles in the media.
Redistricting Awareness offered very public events to emphasize how the U.S. Congressional line for North Carolina Districts 5 and 10 cut through neighborhoods as a result of being re-drawn in 2019.
Here are the events.
Walk the Line - Door hangers were placed on houses along both sides of the Congressional district line where neighborhoods were divided.
Drive the Line - Anyone driving along the line could see from the yard signs where streets and roads divided the local community into the two districts. Local media printed access to the driving map.
Learn about Lines – Invited panelists from Common Cause NC, LWVNC, NAACP of NC and Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Local citizens came to learn more.
Learn about Lines2 – Judge Robert Orr, former Justice of the NC Supreme Court, spoke on Redistricting and the Law. Judge Orr was later tapped by the NC Supreme Court to be one of three Grand Masters to draw a temporary map for the 2022 elections.
Facts about Lines – The League and Common Cause NC invited residents to a virtual workshop to learn more clearly about how Hickory, Catawba County, and the surrounding area were affected by district maps.
LWVCV President spoke at the area meeting of the NC General Assembly Redistricting Committee and at the Catawba County NAACP business meeting.
We Created eight 60-second video clips—4 in English 4 in Spanish. Their aim? to empower voters this year and into the future. The topics:
The impact of Redistricting
Why city and town elections are important.
And so are county elections.
How easy VOTE411 is to use
These clips have been shared with Leagues and others throughout North Carolina for their use, too.
In English:
En ESpañol
Civics Education focused on high school students. We reached out to a small group of students this year to see what is the best way to reach more students in the future.
We organized a guest panel of local government officials to speak about their job titles and how they serve the public.
Copies of the US Constitution were distributed to social studies students at Hickory and University Christian High Schools.
A high school voter registration event is set for March, 2023 for eligible students.
we created, printed, purchased, displayed and/or distributed the following VOTE411 promotional materials:
Billboards designed for four locations around Catawba and Burke Counties; each on display for a month
English and 1 Spanish VOTE411 tri-fold brochures.
VOTE411 bookmarks
Social media graphics
Purchased additional VOTE411 yard signs to stake out before each election—primary, municipal and general election.
Purchased additional VOTE411 car magnets to drive home the importance of voting informed.
These professionally designed materials have been made available to other Leagues in North Carolina and are located here.
Get Out the Vote began with getting out in the communities to offer voter education/information in these ways:
Meet the Candidate Event for local candidates in the primary election (Sherrills Ford/Terrell).
Candidate Forum co-sponsored with the Hickory Daily Record for the candidates in the Hickory Municipal election (Patrick Beaver Memorial Library)
Candidate Forum co-sponsored with the Hickory Daily Record for the candidates running for Catawba County School Board(CVCC).
Three events for students at Catawba Valley Community College
Unlock the Vote offered via Exodus House
Two separate events for students at Lenoir-Rhyne University
Hispanic Heritage Day with Centro Latino
Voter info for students at Western Piedmont Community College Fall Festival
Voter information and registration table at Hickory Farmer’s Market.
The SOLVE grant’s activities concluded at the end of 2022. All the spending was accounted for and all activities were documented. The SOLVE grant certainly supported voter education about redistricting (and beyond) in the Catawba Valley this past year.
We extend our appreciation to SOLVE for believing in our vision. It was both a tangible and affirming gift for our aspirational League!
