The mission of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters has been singular and unwavering for more than 100 years: to uphold and protect our democratic system, and to ensure the right of every American to vote. Upholding our cherished democratic system means preserving our Founding Fathers’ genius invention, consisting of three co-equal branches of government regulated by a system of checks and balances. This system of government has persisted for nearly 250 years, and has resulted in the most productive society in the history of the world.
Many Americans expected change and some upheaval when Donald Trump began his second term as president. Each new president will of course attempt to shape the country into his or her vision of what it should be, and candidate Trump was very clear about his intentions to do things differently. Change is what the voters wanted and change was the reason he was voted back into the White House.
We at the League of Women Voters of Tulare County respect the voters’ decision in 2024. However, as an organization whose mission is the preservation of our democratic system, we believe that many of the new administration’s aggressive actions are indeed threats to the democracy we cherish. While many of the changes Pres. Trump wants could have been done through the legislative process, respecting the system of checks and balances, the administration instead has chosen to unilaterally begin dismantling our governmental institutions and norms through executive orders. This shock-and-awe approach has been quick, but ignores the rule of law. This leaves only the judicial system between our democracy and an autocracy.
This is not some far-off threat. The administration’s actions are impacting us locally. Grant applications have been frozen and funding has been cut to local nonprofit organizations. Severe spending cuts are proposed to Medi-Cal, affecting the more than 300,000 people (about 62% of our total population) who qualify in Tulare County. In addition, 1.5M residents in the San Joaquin Valley are on Medi-Cal.
Food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that was recently received by over 126,000 people in Tulare County (of which 2/3 were children) are also threatened with cuts. According to CAfoodbanks.org, SNAP brought $193M in 100% federally funded benefits to Tulare County in 2018. This created about $346M in total economic activity, supporting 1,900 Tulare County jobs by providing markets for farmers and customers for retailers.
In response to one of the latest executive orders, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” Celina Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of the League of Women Voters of the United States said: “Let’s keep it real: this order is not about protecting elections; it is about making it harder for voters — particularly women voters — to participate in them. … This executive order is an assault on our republic and a dangerous attempt to silence American voters. The President continues to overstep his authority and brazenly disregard settled law in this country. To be very clear — the League of Women Voters is prepared to fight back and defend our democracy.”
LWV Tulare County will do all we can right here in our community to defend our democracy, and in particular to ensure that voting rights are protected. As a show of strength and solidarity, we will join the “Hands Off!” Protest being organized by With Visalia and others on April 19, 2025 at Mooney and Caldwell from 11AM-2PM. We urge all citizens and other organizations to join us. Our community is strong. Let’s band together to defend and protect it.
Our sign will say “Hands Off Our Voting Rights!”. What will your signs say?
Donna Mekeel, President
League of Women Voters of Tulare County