# League of Women Voters (LWV) Nonpartisan civic-engagement and voting-rights organization founded February 14, 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt — six months before the [[Nineteenth Amendment]]'s ratification. Originally formed to integrate the newly enfranchised women voters into the electorate; over a century later, retains nonpartisan status while maintaining a voter-education and voting-rights advocacy posture. State-level Leagues operate in all 50 states. ## 2025 Utah redistricting role — *LWV of Utah v. Utah State Legislature* The Utah League is the **lead named plaintiff** in *League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature* (filed jointly with **[[Mormon Women for Ethical Government]]** and individual plaintiffs), challenging the Utah Legislature's repeal of voter-approved Proposition 4 (2018) — which had banned partisan gerrymandering and established an independent redistricting commission. Key dates: - **2025-08-25** — Utah Supreme Court rules the legislative repeal of Prop 4 **unconstitutional**, ordering the legislature to redraw the congressional map by 2025-09-24. - **2025-10-06** — Utah Legislature passes SB 1011 (revising the partisan-gerrymandering standards) and SB 1012 (a new map drawn under the new rules); Governor [[Spencer Cox]] signs the same day. LWV and MWEG immediately challenge. - **2025-11-10** — Utah Supreme Court enjoins SB 1012 as inconsistent with Prop 4 and **chooses its own remedy map for 2026** — an extraordinary judicial intervention. The remedy map nets Democrats one competitive seat for 2026. See [[Redistricting Timeline 2025-2026]]. LWV is also broadly involved in 2025–26 redistricting litigation across multiple states alongside the [[ACLU]], the [[NAACP Legal Defense Fund]], and [[Common Cause]]. ## 2026 EAC purge response On **July 9, 2026**, [[Donald Trump]] fired all three remaining commissioners of the [[Election Assistance Commission]], leaving the sole federal election-administration agency without a quorum months before the 2026 midterm elections. The League of Women Voters issued an immediate statement calling the purge **"a dangerous escalation"** in the administration's campaign to undermine election infrastructure. The LWV's response framed the EAC firings not as an isolated personnel action but as part of a coordinated pattern: the DOJ's July 7 letters threatening state election officials with criminal prosecution (sent by [[Harmeet Dhillon]]), the [[SAVE Act]]'s voter-ID requirements, and the broader assault on independent election oversight. For the LWV — founded to integrate newly enfranchised voters into the electorate — the destruction of the only federal agency devoted to election administration ahead of a midterm cycle represents the direct negation of the organization's century-old mission. The midterms framing matters: with no EAC quorum, there is no federal body to certify new voting systems, distribute election-security grants, or maintain the national voter registration form for the November 2026 elections. The LWV's "dangerous escalation" language signals that the organization views the EAC purge as qualitatively different from earlier voting-rights battles — not a policy disagreement but an institutional dismantlement. ## Related - [[Spencer Cox]] — Utah governor who signed the SB 1011/1012 package against the LWV ruling - [[Redistricting Timeline 2025-2026]] — Utah-specific entries - [[Election Assistance Commission]] — EAC purge the LWV called "a dangerous escalation" - [[Voter Suppression]] — the broader doctrine the LWV's advocacy opposes