5 reasons why women must get out and vote

At long last the day we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived.  Election Day.  No matter what party you’re voting for, policies you support or ideologies you represent, it’s the vote, voting, that counts.  Women in America have only had the right to vote for less than 100 years, but it’s more important now than at any other time in history.  If you’re registered to vote and haven’t gotten your ballot counted yet, get offline and get to your polling place.  If you’re not registered, but are eligible, what are you waiting for?  Get registered today.  It won’t allow you to participate in today’s election, but history’s being made with every election and we need you to be part of that. Women’s voices have been quiet for too long.  Speak up, loud and clear and let your representatives hear you.  If that’s not enough nagging for you, here are five more reasons why you must get out and vote:

1. Use it or lose it – This election is all about women, though women are drastically underrepresented in government.  Currently only 16.8% of seats in Congress are filled with women though women make up the majority of the American population (50.8%). Until we balance the power in the House and Senate by voting more women into high-level government positions, our only chance to keep the hard won rights women have fought for is to vote.  

Vote for the candidates you think will best represent your needs, viewpoints and personal politics.  Vote for measures that will best support you, your family and communities.  Vote for the rights that may be slipping away if women are silent, complacent, lazy or simply don’t care.  Use your right to vote or lose your rights.  VOTE!

2. Stand up for yourself – Until 1920 when a Constitutional amendment guaranteed women the right to vote and to take a stand for the issues and leaders they believed in, women had to depend on their husbands, fathers or other men to stand up for them.   One look at the long and winding road women’s rights have traveled shows you that the men in their lives weren’t necessarily voting for the same things as women would have.  Times haven’t changed all that much.  Honor the women who’ve stood up for you by standing up for yourself. Don’t sit on the sidelines and expect someone else to defend your rights, do it yourself – VOTE! 

3. Stand up for women abroad – Many of the policies our leaders work on impact women, children and families all over the world.  That’s why it’s essential you vote leaders into office who view America’s role and responsibilities in the world the same way you do.  Especially in this time of extreme budgetary constraints, electing officials who will treat the Foreign Affairs budget thoughtfully is critical.  Do the right thing for your sisters and mothers around the world. – VOTE!

4. Be an example to your children – We all know our children do as we do, not as we say.  That’s why it’s so important that you demonstrate civic responsibility to your children.  If they don’t see voting as normal, expected and important, they won’t make it a habit in their own adult lives.  And if you think the issues and leaders we’re voting for today are world changing, just wait until our children are adults.  

Teach them to take responsibility for their future by voting today.  And while you’re at it, help your sisters, neighbors and friends by offering a ride to your polling place or an hour of babysitting so they can get out and VOTE.

5. Take your place in history – Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells and hundreds more strong women made sure women like you and me could vote.  Fast forward several decades and women like Betty Freidan, Gloria Steinem, Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton are pushing, pulling and dragging women’s human, civic and employment rights forward all around the world. 

Each woman has her own responsibility and unique contribution to make in making the world a better place for all its citizens.  But history can’t move forward without women like you voting.  Take your place in history now and get out there and VOTE.

Don’t know where your polling place is?  Our friends at MomsRising have that covered: