Voter Services Report - January 2026

(Dawn Smith, Co-Chair)

Voter Services met via Zoom in early December to start planning out the 2026 General Election year. With all the local races (City Council, County Board, Village Boards, etc.), and with the poor luck we’ve had getting all the candidates to participate in our forums, we’re taking a different approach this year. All candidates running for selected offices will be sent an invite to submit a 10-minute promotional video to the LWVGGB, which we will share on our YouTube channel. We will send the candidates three questions they must answer in order to have their videos displayed. We’re hoping with this approach we’ll be able to offer all candidates the opportunity to be heard without limiting anyone based on an opponent’s decision about participating.

Voter Services has decided to host a candidate forum for the GBAPS School Board race, as candidates for this race have historically participated in our forum, and these forums are typically well attended. Mark your calendars for the GBAPS School Board forum from 6-7:30 on Wednesday, March 18 (location TBD), with Jean Marsh moderating for us.

Voter Services has also been working to assemble Welcome Packets for renters in the area.  We’ll be piloting this with the Meadowbrook East apartments and hope to have our first batch of packets ready for the April election.

A huge thanks to Alana Renier and Amy Jonet, who will be handling VOTE 411 this year for our local League. If you’re not familiar with VOTE 411, you should definitely check it out and share it with friends – it’s a great resource for candidate information.

The next Voter Services meeting will be held via Zoom at 6:00 on Thursday, February 5.  Please email dawnmariestr@gmail.com for the Zoom link if you’re interested in attending.