League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania

History

In 1920, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania was established to be the successor to the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association, with the purpose of providing “education to increase the effectiveness of women voters and to further better government.” The LWVPA has been active in its 501(c)(3) Education Fund, which was established in 1970 with the aim of educating the public on government; Pennsylvanians Assess Coal Today, a periodical  that publishes studies on the uses and environmental impact of coal on Pennsylvania, local governments, environmental projects, and national issues generally; and Time for Action, a program that aims to involve local groups in state legislative issues. ²

Activities

The LWVPA claims to not support any political party or candidate; ³ however, it supports left-of-center policy such as government involvement in environmentalist efforts and gun control. ⁴ In 2011, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania’s Citizen Education Fund started an educational project called “The Straight Scoop on Shale Drilling.” The purpose of this project was to discuss and report on information regarding the extraction of natural gas from Marcellus Shale. The LWVPA also created its “Reimagine” program, a program where it collaborates with community groups, Indiana County League members and local government to discuss and develop concepts and ideas towards building communities based on left-of-center environmentalist ideas. ⁵

The LWVPA has been a part of various court cases throughout its history such as League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where the LWVPA and group of Democratic Pennsylvania voters filed suit on June 15, 2017, to have Pennsylvania’s 2011 congressional map invalidated on grounds that it was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander according to the state constitution. ⁶ As of 2023, LWVPA was involved in League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Deagraffenreid ⁷ and League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Kathy Boockvar. ⁸

People

Meghan Pierce is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. Pierce has worked for the New York City Mayor’s Office, Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates, the Women’s Law Project of Pennsylvania and multiple city and state-level campaigns in Pennsylvania. She joined the League in October 2020. ⁹

Rev. Carolyn C. Cavaness is member of the board of directors for the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. ⁹ She has been the pastor of Bethel AME Church of Ardmore for about 5 years and is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary of New York City. ¹⁰ In July of 2017, Cavaness was a campaign staffer to Philadelphia Judge Jimmie Moore and pled guilty to submitting false Federal Election Commission filings to conceal a $90,000 payout from then-Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA) to persuade Moore to drop out of a 2012 Democratic primary race. ¹¹ The money was routed through two political consultants, “who created false invoices to generate a paper trail intended to justify the payments from Candidate A’s campaign committee,” according to the U.S. attorney’s statement. ¹²

Funding

In 2020, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania reported revenue of $159,566, expenses of $115,233, and net assets of $99,498. ¹³