The League of Women Voters' (LWV) of Manatee County was told for the first time this year it cannot distribute its nonpartisan voter guides in public libraries.
Printed copies of the voter guides, which were distributed in county-owned libraries through 2024, publish general voter information and verbatim responses from candidates in local races without endorsements.
"For many years Manatee County Libraries distributed our printed voter guides without controversy or incident," Ruth Harenchar, president of the local LWV chapter said during public comment at a commission meeting last week. "Our concern extends beyond the voter guide itself. Over the past several years, restrictions affecting civic information and educational programming appear to have increased. Yet those policies have never been publicly discussed or approved by this board."
Harenchar urged county commissioners to reconsider its policy restricting "political" library display material — and to do so in a public forum.
Manatee County spokesperson Casey Zempel said there is a long-standing policy limiting political display material in public libraries "guided by the need to maintain consistent, viewpoint-neutral standards for outside organizations seeking to use public facilities to distribute information."
Citing a 2017 memorandum from the county attorney's office, which specifically addresses political petitioning and campaigning in public libraries, Zempel said the same restrictions are also being applied to materials for library displays.
"The intent is not to single out the League of Women Voters or discourage civic participation, but rather to ensure County facilities are managed consistently and fairly while allowing library staff to focus on providing services and resources to residents," Zempel said in an emailed statement.
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Ahead of the 2026 primary election, Harenchar said her volunteers were surprised to learn that their voter guides violated the county's policy for library display.
Emails shared with WUSF between the League and county staff show that the nonprofit was also prohibited from hanging flyers at Manatee library branches advertising a series of informational events for voters, reviewing 2026 constitutional amendments, because of its "political nature."
While Manatee County commissioners have never voted on this library policy, it was a topic of discussion during a July 28 regular meeting.
Chairman Tal Siddique echoed concerns from the county attorney that if Manatee County libraries allow one nonprofit to distribute information, they would have to allow every group to do so, which he said could unduly burden staff.
"It's easier to just deny everyone ... So nobody's allowed, and you can stand outside the library if you want to distribute them or something like that, or direct them to your website. It's easier on our staff," Siddique said. "I get the free speech argument ... but ... I would favor not allowing any campaign material, nonpartisan or otherwise, to be in the library."
"I disagree," Commissioner George Kruse said.
Palm Beach County recently reversed its ban on libraries distributing nonpartisan voter guides from its local League of Women Voters' chapter after receiving public pushback.
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