Bill Lavezzi, co-chair of the new Southeast League of Women Voters, wants to make sure voters know that Monday is the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 3 presidential election.

“The Southeast League of Women Voters reminds our neighbors that the deadline to register is Monday, October 5,” he said. “All of us should check our registration status at https://www.vote411.org/, and if you need to you can change your addresses or register online.”

The League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland officially recognized the new local
chapter from the Bedford-area community last month. The new Southeast Chapter is the local chapter for Bedford, Bedford Heights, Oakwood, and Walton Hills.

The chapter was the most recent addition to the Greater Cleveland LWV, which now has
eleven regular chapters and a student chapter within Cuyahoga County.

Work on the local chapter has been going on for over a year. Local volunteers hosted a
voter forum last fall featuring candidates for the Bedford Board of Education, aided by
the Bedford Council of PTAs, Friends of the Southeast Library, and the Hillcrest LWV
chapter (from the South Euclid-Lyndhurst area).

In August, chapter members elected Donna Stevens and Lavezzi as co-chairs and Nancy
DePolis as secretary. They also appointed Venezuela Robinson as voter service officer and
the Rev. Harry Werner as membership chair.

Additional charter members of the new chapter include La’Tonya Fisher-Grace, Jennifer
Garberich, Kathryn Garberich, Charles-Michael Robinson, Devin Robinson, Pamela
Semanik, and Allen Stevens.

Werner invites interested citizens to join the League of Women Voters at https://my.lwv.org/ohio/greater-cleveland/join. For more information, the local
group can be reached by email at lwvcuyse@gmail.com.

The League of Women Voters is one of the most prominent voter rights organizations in the country. LWV roots began in a committee formed by the National American Woman Suffrage
Association in 1919. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States was ratified one hundred years ago, and the League was established in the
same year, making 2020 the centennial year for both national women’s suffrage and the
League of Women Voters.

Although its name continues the league’s link to its historic
origins, the organization welcomes both men and women as members and leaders.