About the League

League of Women Voters Asheville Buncombe County
2026 Annual Meeting

Our Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 16th, 6 pm, at the Kenilworth Center, Asheville. Members and interested guests are asked to register by June 10th. A light informal dinner will be provided. Tom Fiedler, reporter for Asheville Watchdog and former editor of the Miami Herald, will be the guest speaker followed by our business meeting.

Opinion: Why is NC trying to make it harder to cast your ballot?

Suzanne Fisher, President, League of Women Voters Asheville-Buncombe County, Guest Opinion, Citizen-Times, May 31, 2026

The mission of the 106-year-old League of Women Voters is simple: “Empowering Voters, Defending Democracy.” Currently there are multiple efforts proposed that would make it harder for legally registered North Carolinians to vote.

In the General Assembly, Senate Bill 1084 proposes to reduce the early voting period from 17 days to 10 days. Early voting is now the primary way North Carolinians cast their ballots. In the 2024 general election, approximately 74% of all ballots in North Carolina were cast during in-person early voting by Republicans, Democrats, and Unaffiliated voters.

Early voting has many advantages. It provides flexibility for working voters, caregivers, elderly voters, students and rural communities, and it allows more time to resolve registration and photo ID issues that may arise with new voters. Consistent early voting schedules help counties manage staffing and logistics more effectively. Reducing early voting days or locations can concentrate voter traffic into fewer days and create additional administrative strain. Supporting election officials with adequate resources is a more effective solution than reducing voter access opportunities.

The League of Women Voters strongly supports maintaining our current 17-day early voting period for elections to be secure, accessible and trusted. If you share that conviction let your NC legislators know; use this link to identify them.

Separately, the North Carolina State Board of Elections is proposing changes in the rules concerning photo ID requirements for both in-person and absentee-by-mail ballots. These would lower the threshold for a county board to find a voter’s Photo ID Exception Form “false” to a majority vote instead of the current requirement of a unanimous vote to reject a ballot.

A Photo ID Exception Form is the form a voter submits when they can’t include a photo ID copy with their absentee ballot due to a disability, religious objection, natural disaster, or other reasonable impediment. These are often our most vulnerable voters. In the 2024 election this option was very important for voters in Western North Carolina who were recovering from Hurricane Helene.

Under the current rule, all five members of the County Board of Elections must agree that a voter’s ID exception form is false before their ballot can be rejected. The proposed change would allow a partisan majority to override a dissenting board member’s judgment, putting ballots at risk based on board composition rather than the facts of a voter’s individual situation. The State Board has not identified a specific problem with the current standard that the majority vote change would solve. Absent evidence that the unanimity standard has prevented legitimate falsity findings from being made, there is no compelling justification for lowering a protection that has served voters well.

The League of Women Voters affirms that the strength of our elections is based on public trust. Rules that allow a partisan majority to reject a voter’s ballot over a dissenting member’s objection undermines that trust regardless of whether the finding is justified.

If you believe that the removal of unanimity weakens, rather than strengthens, the fairness of the election process, you should submit your comments at the Public Comment Portal: 2026 Rulemaking – Photo ID. The comment period ends July 14th.

Note: there are two separate changes proposed: 08 NCAC 17.0101 Verification of Photo Identification During In-Person Voting and 08 NCAC Photo Identification for Absentee-By-Mail Ballots. Both propose to change current requirement of unanimous concurrence to majority concurrence for a voter’s exception affidavit.

There will be a public hearing at 2 pm, on June 9th, at the State Board of Elections in the Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury St, Raleigh.

Leading up to the midterm elections, all across the state the League of Women Voters will be involved in a wide range of efforts to provide voters with the information they need to register to vote, make sure their registration is up to date, and understand the logistics of voting in North Carolina. Our VOTE411 system is a one stop platform to find out when to vote, where to vote, and what is on your ballot. Our goal is to make sure that every eligible voter has a safe, secure, and accessible way to vote whatever their circumstances. We truly believe that “Your Vote is Your Voice.” What better way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence than to have record voter turnout.

The League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County purchased English and Spanish versions of the wonderful book, Leo’s First Vote, by Christina Soontornvat. LWVAB has distributed sets to nine libraries in Buncombe, three in Madison and two in McDowell. Sets have also been given to Mountain Laurel Montessori School, Art Space Charter School, and Old Fort Elementary.

Election of the President by popular vote

On April 14th, the United States got one step closer to making sure that every person’s vote counts in every presidential election. With Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s signature, the Commonwealth of Virginia adopted the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The National Popular Vote law will take effect when approved by states with a majority of the electoral votes (270 of 538).

Then the presidential candidate with the most votes in all 50 states and DC will get all the electoral votes from the enacting states. The addition of 13 electoral votes for Virginia brings the total to 222 electoral votes; only 48 more needed. Our Constitution (Article II, Section 1) gives states exclusive control of the choice of awarding their electoral votes. It does not encourage, discourage, require, or prohibit the use of any particular way. Under the National Popular Vote law, no voter will have their vote cancelled out because their choice differed from the prevailing sentiment in their state. Instead, every voter’s vote will be added directly into the national count of the candidate chosen by that voter.

The basic premise is simple — every vote equal, add up all the votes, most votes wins. Simple, fair and the way every other election in our country is conducted. Since 1970 the League of Women Voters has affirmed that the popular election of the president is essential to representative government. North Carolina should enact the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact; tell your legislators.

Suzanne Fisher, President League of Women Voters Asheville-Buncombe County, Black Mountain

Advocacy Day

Advocacy Day brings League members together to connect, compare notes and hear straight from leaders who are shaping decisions that impact us all.

On April 28th, more than 40 League members were in Raleigh to talk to state leaders about what matters in our communities, including voting rights, legislation and what it really means to move forward, making sure EVERY voter has the same opportunity to cast their ballot and that our systems shift with the times.

Because inclusion isn’t a trend… it’s the standard.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, volunteer-based, political organization consisting of women and men passionate about our democracy. Born out of the national women’s suffrage movement in 1920, the League continues to work to serve the needs of the voting public and protect the rights of all voters.

Our efforts are two-fold:
Voters Service, Citizen Education – presenting unbiased, nonpartisan information about elections, the voting process and current issues.

Action, Advocacy – following education on the issue(s), action is taken towards enacting policies in the public interest and striking down policies harmful to society.

A just society is derived from a democracy consisting of an engaged and educated public that has faith in the political process.

The League of Women Voters is a membership organization encouraging action and advocacy as a nonprofit 501(c)(4) corporation. To conduct our voter service and citizen education activities, funds are derived from the Florence Ryan Education Fund, which is a 501(c)(3) corporation, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to building citizen participation in democratic process, studying key community issues at all government levels in an unbiased manner, and enabling people to seek positive solutions to public policy issues through education and conflict management.

The League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County currently offers meetings and events for members as well as educational programs for the public. Quarterly member events include two meetings each year, a Holiday Social in winter and an Annual Luncheon & Meeting in May or June. League action teams and committees also hold regular meetings for the members involved in those groups.

Join us! Check us out on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. And check out our YouTube Channel for past meetings and voting issues we’re involved with. Our Calendar page has upcoming events.

Connect with your State League: North Carolina League of Women Voters
Connect with the National League: National League of Women Voters

Our chapter is centered around Buncombe County and includes several adjoining counties. This is the homeland of the Cherokee and other nations. We recognize the sovereignty and traditional territories of these local tribal nations, the treaties used to remove them, and the histories of dispossession. We honor and respect the many diverse indigenous people who came before us, who are still here, and who are connected to the land on which we reside.

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