Washington Area Women's Foundation

A Woman's Vote is a Woman's Voice

duty-poster-smallElection Day is almost here! Whether you’re preparing to celebrate or ready to cry from campaign exhaustion, I hope you’re going to take the opportunity to vote on November 6th. I’m always shocked and a little disappointed when a woman tells me that she’s not planning on voting. And then I break out my top five reasons for why she should:

5. 113-plus years of suffrage in the United States. For women, the road to the voting booth was long and arduous. Suffragists took on presidents, the states, Congress, law enforcement officers, and citizens who thought that a person could be unequal, unworthy and incapable of participating in elections, simply because she was a woman. For women of color and those living in poverty, the road to enfranchisement was even longer and tougher. Vote for hunger strikes and forced feedings. Vote for humiliation and bravery. Vote to honor the people who came before you and righted a wrong; vote to show those who will come after you that there is strength and power in casting a ballot.

4. Your vote DOES count. The Electoral College and the media calling races before the polls even close can make voting feel more symbolic than effective. But whether you live in a swing state or not, your vote will have an impact, particularly when it comes to local laws and policies. While the presidential election has overshadowed just about everything else, there are other races and initiatives to vote for. Click here to find out what’s on the ballot in DC, here to see what Marylanders are voting for, and here to see what’s on the ballot in Virginia. Vote because you care about what happens in your community.

3. Improve and increase resources for women and their families. Women – particularly single women raising children – remain more economically vulnerable, even as the country begins to recover from the recession. According to research from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), women were either breadwinners or co-breadwinners in most families. Yet, women make up nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers, earn 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, and low-income families are mostly headed by single mothers. “By voting, women can make sure our elected leaders prioritize investments that will help women and their families through hard times, expand opportunity, and strengthen the economy,” says NWLC. Vote because stronger, more resilient women create stronger, more resilient families and communities.

2. “There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.” —Susan B. Anthony

1. Your vote is your voice. Lawmakers listen to voters long after Election Day – it could be their key to getting re-elected in the future. Vote because you want to have a say in your future and in the community in which you live.

There are many, many other reasons to vote, but the ones I listed are what I’ll be thinking about on November 6th. Please share your own reasons in the comments below. And please, please make sure that you vote on Tuesday. To find out where your polling place is, click on your location: DC, MD, VA.

Images courtesy of the National Women’s Law Center.