Voter Service has made the League of Women Voters the foremost nonpartisan volunteer organization in the political arena today. Voter Service is at the heart of the League, core to our mission, and core to the public trust we engender.
PWM Voter Service includes candidate forums and the strictly nonpartisan voter information we offer for new voters and other special populations, for recently changed election information, and our voter guides.
Candidates are willing to appear on our platforms and provide information for our Voter Guides (once always on paper, now electronic Vote411.org/new-york) because candidates have confidence that they will be treated fairly and that the material will not be used for partisan purposes. This same reputation secures the confidence placed in our material by other organizations, newspapers and interested citizens.
Our League is proud to have been among the first local Leagues in the nation to provide virtual forums that allow voters to submit questions to candidates both before and DURING virtual forums. In 2020, our League offered more virtual forums than any other NYS League.
Since then we try to record and post all our forums on our YouTube channel, which has a quick handle at
Playlists for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Forums are available.
Upcoming forums are listed on our Website Homepage (LWVofPWM.org) and on our Calendar — and this page will be regularly updated.
Our PWM League focuses its efforts on races where our members vote. Every forum we sponsor requires candidates to agree to our League procedures and to appear on time and in person — whether virtual meetings or physical meetings (“in real life” at physical venues).
Only candidates who have been certified to have their names printed on the ballot may participate in a League forum, specifically, those certified by the
PWM will also organize and/or provider moderation services — when our capacity allows — for neighboring jurisdictions or sister Leagues when they agree to abide by our League policies and procedures. A modest honorarium is sometimes requested. For more information, contact President@lwvofpwm.org
In all forums, our PWM League has a “No Empty Chair” policy — which means that for any contested seat, at least two candidates must appear for the forum or it will be canceled. PWM policy aligns with the LWV of NYS and the LWV of US policies — as a matter of maintaining strict nonpartisanship.
Our team members strictly follow our Voter Services policies and procedures for candidate forums and maintaining nonpartisan processes. There are many roles for volunteers, some require a handful of hours during forums, others 5-10 hours for a specific month. Moderators receive advanced training.
If you would consider helping serve our communities in this critical role, please email President@lwvofpwm.org
Special District forums for Port Washington & Manhasset: TBD
Garbage, Parks, Police, Sewer, Water
| Date | Office | Candidates Agreed | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2 | Glen Cove Mayor | George Maragos & Pamela Panzenbeck | ||
| Oct 12 | Nassau County District 10 | Mazi Melesa Pilip & Weihua Yan | Empty Chair: only Yan agreed | |
| Oct 12 | Nassau County District 11 | Delia DeRiggi Whitton & John Stalzer | ||
| Oct 12 | Town of North Hempstead District 4 | James Gounaris & Christine Liu | ||
| Oct 12 | Town of North Hempstead District 6 | Mariann Dalimonte & David Franklin | ||
| Oct 16 | Great Neck Library | Sara Rivka Khodadadian, Aliza Reicher, Scott Sontag | ||
| Oct 19 | ToNH Supervisor | Jennifer DeSena & Jon Kaiman | ||
| Oct 19 | ToNH Receiver of Taxes | Mary Jo Collins & Veronica Lurvey | ||
| Oct 25 | Glen Cove City Council | Grady Farnan, Danielle Fugazy Scagliola, Roni Sue Jenkins, Michael Ktistakis, Kevin Maccarone, Jack Mancusi. Joseph Manfredi. Barbara Peebles, Theresa Pergola, Marsha Silverman, Joanne Yee, John Zozzaro |
| Date | Office | Candidates Agreed | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 8, 2022 | US Congress Primary — District 4 | |||
| Aug 11 | US Congress Primary — District 3 | |||
| Aug 23 | NYS Senate Primary — DIstrict 7 | |||
| Oct 6 | Great Neck Library | |||
| Oct 13 | US Congress — District 3 | |||
| Oct 13 | NYS Senate District 7 | |||
| Oct 13 | NYS Assembly District 15 | |||
| Oct 20 | NYS Assembly District 15 | Empty Chair - No Show | Ruka Anzai was no show | |
| Nov 29 | PW Police | |||
| Dec 6 | PW Garbage | |||
| Mar 19, 2023 | Mayor, Roslyn Estates | |||
| May 2 | Board of Education, Rockville Center | |||
| May 4 | Board of Education, Carle Place | Not video-ed at Candidate request | ||
| May 10 | Board of Education, Manhasset | |||
| May 7 | Board of Education, Great Neck | Empty Chair - no agreement | Didn't agree to rules or participate: Niloufar Tabari & Aili Zhang |
Whether you have a few hours during election season (or much more), whether you know voter engagement is something you care about (or you want to try it out), or whether whether you just want to be part of a team focused on building community in our PWM area and “Making Democracy Work” — we’d love to hear from you.
Needs blue button
