Voting as an informed citizen
Collection by

Lisa Plencner

Voting as an informed citizen

Director of voter registration for the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area

August 2020

When I began working for the St. Joseph Circuit Court in 2004, I was given a copy of the Citizen Guide to Representative Government. At the time, it had no section on the judicial branch. That led me to my first meeting of the League of Women Voters. Six months later, I was president of the organization (and the guide included a judicial section), and I helped its membership grow from 25 to 75. I am a good-government policy wonk. Sure, I have my personal political beliefs, but I truly enjoy politics from a nonpartisan standpoint. That means I don’t care who you vote for; I just want you to vote. I believe that the heartbeat of American democracy is informed citizens. With that in mind, here are some tools to help you make informed decisions when you vote.