SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN — This Valentine’s Day will be filled with love and chalky heart candies with sentimental messages as usual, but it will also be filled with education and activism.

The League of Women Voters will celebrate its centennial anniversary that day. The national civic organization has spent the past 100 years supporting women’s suffrage, educating voters and advocating for voting rights.

The celebration comes months before the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s ratification Aug. 18, which gave women the constitutional right to vote.

On Feb. 14, the League of Women Voters’ local chapters will celebrate with a day of action called “Women Power the Vote.” For the League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties, that day of action extends to nearly two weeks.

Members of the organization will volunteer their time to register high school voters 17-and-a-half and older between Tuesday, Feb. 4 and Friday, Feb. 14. The drive is to encourage youth to turn up to this year’s primary and general elections at the national, state and local levels.

At a Jan. 14 chapter board meeting at the Niles District Library, president Anita Rutlin passed out a spreadsheet of all school districts in Cass and Berrien counties, complete with contact information, the number of students and other factors. It was the board’s goal to find members from or near each school district to spend a lunch hour registering eligible students.

A list of dates the League of Women Voters will be at school lunches was not determined at the time of publishing, but board members said students should keep their ears out for a schoolwide announcement and their eyes out at lunch early February.

Usually, school district leaders are ecstatic about the organization’s presence and will promote the League’s table, Rutlin said.

The local League of Women Voters has hosted school drives before, but new Michigan voting rights established through a voter-driven proposal in the 2018 general election opened up more opportunities for high school students to become involved in the election process, Rutlin said.

First, students who will turn 18 before an election are eligible to register, Rutlin said. Second, no-reason absentee voting allows anyone to vote without heading to their voting precinct location. Third, people of age to vote that register their driver’s licenses are automatically registered to vote.

These laws are helpful to all, but especially to high school students, Rutlin said.

“That’s so important,” she said of the voting law changes. “That’s what keeps people involved with [voting.]”

Volunteers at area high schools will also guide students — and school staff — through the registration process and educate them on how to vote. Rutlin said the numerous voting law changes can be difficult to know about, let alone understand.

Members may also direct people at the schools to the national League of Women Voters’ website, vote411.com. It not only helps people register but find their polling place and see what and who will be on the ballots. A person running for office can also provide their platforms and experience on the site.

“We think education helps create turnout, and it helps people register,” Rutlin said. “We think the more you know about issues and candidate platforms, the more likely you are to vote.”

The League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties is working especially hard to educate people of precinct changes, which can affect where a person votes in person. One of the changes is in Benton Harbor.

To spread its educational mission, the local League of Women Voters chapter will host a voting rights town hall in February. At the time of publishing, its date and location were still to be determined.

A March town hall on the 2020 census will follow at the Berrien Regional Educational Services Agency, 711 St. Joseph Ave., Berrien Springs.

Both town halls will be hosted before events that correspond with: statewide primary elections March 10 and the beginning of the 2020 census April 1, respectfully.

In big years like these, Rutlin said, education is key, especially following 2018’s new voter laws. That is why the League is still relevant and important, she said.