ITLA Women’s Caucus marks centennial of suffrage with voter registration effort

Tess White knew right away what her mission would be in 2020 as chair of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association Women’s Caucus. And she wasn’t about to let a pandemic get in the way.

The original plan was to mark Aug. 26 as a “get out the vote” day, with the 158 women members of ITLA fanning out across the state to register as many Hoosiers to vote as possible. It’s a significant day: Aug. 26 will mark the 100th anniversary of Indiana women being guaranteed the right to vote after ratification of the 19th Amendment.

But with the uncertainty caused by coronavirus and difficulties raised by social distancing, plans changed.

“What we’ve asked members to do is try to promote it through the year,” White said. The drive now will culminate on Aug. 26 with a count of the number of Hoosiers the Women’s Caucus is able to register.

White, a partner at White & Champagne in Indianapolis, said she has received training from the League of Women Voters on registering voters online and has provided that same training to many members. She said it was important for ITLA as a nonpartisan organization to receive training from a nonpartisan group such as the LWV.

“You would be surprised how many people are not registered to vote,” White said. She encourages members of the ITLA Women’s Caucus to ask family members, clients, friends and acquaintances if they can check to make sure they are registered through the state website, indianavoters.in.gov.

“You can register people online, or you can check to see if they are registered and walk them through how to do it, as well,” she said. “Don’t assume anyone’s a voter.”

Meanwhile, White said Zoom has been a great tool to keep members connected and in touch. In some ways, she said, she’s gotten to better know lawyers from Evansville or Valparaiso, for example.

“Zoom knows no geographical boundary,” she said. “I’m getting to know so many more women members, and it’s been a way to still talk about cases.

With Zoom, White said “outreach has been even better, despite COVID.”•