The League of Constitutional Voters is a nonpartisan membership organization working to ensure that ALL public offices are decided with a choice on the ballot. We present every candidate to the public on equal terms, and we recruit, train, and encourage citizens — especially young citizens — to stand for office.
Why “Constitutional”
Because the whole design rests on one line of it.
The Constitution and the constitutions of the fifty states set up a system that assumes a choice. Terms end. Seats open. Citizens step forward. Voters decide. Every part of that machine still works — except the part where a citizen steps forward. That part has quietly stopped in most of the country, and nobody is legally required to notice.
We are not constitutional in the sense of having opinions about what the document means. We have none, as an organization, and we never will. We are constitutional in the sense that we do the one job the document assumes somebody is doing: making sure there is a choice on the ballot.
Washington already requires every officeholder to swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States and to the Constitution of the State of Washington. We don’t need to add a pledge on top of an oath. We just need to make sure someone is standing there to take it.
The Preamble
Read at the opening of every Annual Assembly and every chapter chartering. Printed on the back of every membership card. The first words of our Bylaws.
To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Washington by seeing that every office they create is filled by the people's choice; to present every candidate to the public on equal terms; to teach our neighbors how their governments work and how to stand for office; to inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, county, state, and nation; to give young citizens real responsibility and the confidence to lead; to hold ourselves absolutely nonpartisan, endorsing no candidate and taking no position; and to keep faith with our members through open books and open doors — we associate ourselves together as the League of Constitutional Voters.
Two phrases — "to uphold and defend the Constitution" and "to inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation" — are adapted with attribution from the Preamble to the Constitution of The American Legion (1919).* ## Uses - First words of the Bylaws. - Read aloud to open the Annual Assembly and every chapter chartering. - Back of the membership card. - mission.html, anchor `#preamble`.
Four pillars
Everything the League does belongs to one of four pillars. Every program, every budget line, and every chapter report is tagged to one. If a proposed activity fits none of them, it does not happen. That rule is what keeps the League from drifting.
I. The Constitution
We teach citizens how the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Washington create the offices on their ballot, what those offices do, and what the oath of office requires. We hold no interpretation of either constitution as an institution, and never will.
Programs: Constitution Day (September 17); “What This Office Does” one-pagers for every local office; the “Who Will Stand?” oration contest; the civics module of Learn to Run.
II. Americanism & Citizenship
Vote. Serve. Show up. Welcome the newly naturalized. We define citizenship by the things citizens do, not by the things they believe.
Programs: nonpartisan voter registration and Future Voter sign-ups at 16 and 17; National Voter Registration Day; new-citizen welcome at naturalization ceremonies; Ballot Check calls; titled volunteer roles; Venue Partners.
III. The Contested Ballot
The reason the League exists. No public office should be decided without a choice on the ballot.
Programs: monthly meet-and-greets; quarterly Learn to Run; the February Empty Ballot List and the filing-week push; voter guides; the Empty Ballot Tour; the June Contested Ballot Report.
IV. Children & Youth
A pipeline from first civics lesson to first candidacy.
Programs: $10 membership and a board seat reserved for someone under 30; Junior participants from 13; Youth County and Youth Capitol; the Founders’ Scholarship; the Empty Ballot Research Project for academic credit; campus chapters.
What we believe as an organization
Exactly three things. This is the entire list.
Every office should have a choice on the ballot.
Not a preselection, but a choice. Two names, minimum, so that the seat is won and not merely assigned.
Every candidate deserves the same room and the same questions.
Whoever they are. Whatever they think. However unlikely they are to win.
Anyone eligible should be able to find out how to run in under an hour, for free.
The information is public. It is also scattered, jargoned, and buried. That is a solvable problem, and solving it is most of our work.