October 2026 President's Update
October is a time when the work of the League of Women Voters of Oregon and the national organization becomes especially visible and important. VOTE411 is activated, the Voters Guide has gone to print, and candidate forums are being held. Fall leaves are in the air and ballots are in the mail. We have forwarded ballot initiative petitions to the Secretary of State to eliminate dark money in Oregon’s elections and to revise campaign contribution limits and donor transparency guidelines. All while local, state and national election campaigns are in high gear.
Across Oregon, voters are considering the issues and candidates before them, and making decisions that will shape the future of our local communities, in Oregon and the nation. This election is critical to the future health of our democracy. This is the work we have been staging and preparing for all year, helping every eligible voter participate fully and confidently in our democracy.
The League’s role is both simple and profound. We do not tell voters how to vote. We help make sure they have the information, resources, and opportunity they need to make their own informed decisions. Through voter registration, voter education, candidate forums, election information, and community outreach, League members across Oregon are putting that principle into action and are doing it expertly.
I am especially grateful for the many volunteers in our local Leagues who give their time and experience to this work. The state Board of Directors contributed nearly 1,000 hours of service in this past month. From answering a voter’s questions to organizing community events, each effort strengthens our democracy. Our collective impact comes from these thousands of individual acts of service.
As we enter this important month, I encourage each of us to remember that democracy is not simply an event that occurs on Election Day, November 3, 2026. It is an ongoing commitment to informed participation, respectful civic dialogue, and ensuring that every eligible voice has an opportunity to be heard.
Thank you for the energy, dedication, and nonpartisan service you bring to the League of Women Voters of Oregon. Our local Leagues, Units and the statewide League continue to make a meaningful difference in communities throughout Oregon. We are faithfully doing our part and doing it well. Hope is not a strategy; hope is what you get when you have one and we’ve got one, thanks to you!
In League,
Mark Kendall
LWVOR President
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