By Laureen Scharps, FAWCO Rep, AIWC Frankfurt
Continuing the Fight for Voting Rights
The 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States – giving women in the United States the right to vote* – is August 18, 2020. Like many past and current American protesters fighting for justice, generations of women fought to achieve their voting rights by organizing, picketing and marching. Dozens of suffragists who peacefully protested were beaten, humiliated, jailed and tortured so that we can enjoy this right today.
Women have made progress since 1920, but still lack pay equity with men, and they work in lower-paying jobs. Many women do not have access to medical care or child care, and they must still fight for control over their own bodies because of domestic violence, sexual abuse and unplanned pregnancy.
Voter suppression, which currently occurs in half of US states, places an additional burden on women. For example, according to the National Organization of Women (NOW), 34% of married women who try to vote risk being disenfranchised because their married names do not match the ones on their voter ID.
Youngest parader on New York City suffrage march, 1912.
Other forms of suppression – such as the closure of polling places, especially in low-income neighborhoods; reduced opening hours of polling places; purging of voter rolls; ballot dumping; and the provision of fewer and malfunctioning voting machines – continue to plague US elections and make them unfair. These are just a few examples of how states cheat eligible voters of their rights. COVID-19 worsens all these problems, as shown by recent primary elections in Wisconsin and Georgia.
However, stripping women of their rights – especially women of color – has a ripple effect. Without inclusive policies for these Americans, our country suffers because so many of these women are the backbone of its economy: what are now called essential workers. They teach children in underfunded schools and overcrowded classrooms; they risk their lives as professionals caring for the elderly and sick (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic), and they work in sometimes hazardous jobs to keep the supply chain going. They pour their low wages into the economy by purchasing goods and services for their families. Without inclusiveness and cooperation in a democracy, everybody loses.
Another current major concern is the danger to the underfunded US Postal Service (USPS). If the government fails to provide the billions needed by early fall, the USPS will be forced to slash jobs and close post offices. This will cause long delays in the delivery of mail-in ballots. Voting by mail is not only essential for many overseas voters but also likely to increase enormously as a means of protecting voters in the US from disease while enabling them to exercise their rights.
What you can do – register to vote and promote voting by all overseas Americans
FAWCO has advocated the voting rights of women and their families living overseas for decades. FAWCO urges you to register to vote now! Simply go online to one of FAWCO’s partners and follow the prompts:
- the US Vote Foundation
- the Federal Voter Assistance Program (FVAP).
Both sites also provide information on the deadlines and eligibility requirements for registering and voting in your state.
You must register at least 45 days before the election (November 3, 2020). You should vote and return your ballot by October 3, 2020, to ensure that it arrives in time. (Click here for further information, including on the Federal Write.in Absentee Ballot.)
Then tell your fellow club members, colleagues, acquaintances, friends and family members to register and vote, as well. Encourage voting by every American you can reach. FAWCO provides tips on how to do this. Send questions and suggestions to .
Your vote counts – the future of the next generation depends on it!
* Note: All American women did not enjoy the right to vote in 1920. Native American women could not vote until 1924, when the law gave them US citizenship, and all Asian American women could not vote until 1952. Various state laws disfranchised African American women until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Sources
Bittle, Jake. The Guardian. June 3, 2020. ‘Disastrous at a time like this’: the US Postal Service is on brink of crisis.
Dastigir, Alia E. USA Today. March 23, 2017. What do men get that women don’t. Here are a few things.
Hunt, Swanee. CNN opinion. February 28, 2020. Women got the vote 100 years ago. Now we have to get something else right.
Taylor, Alan. The Atlantic. June 5, 2019. Photos: The Battle for Women’s Suffrage in the U.S.
Velez, Mandy. Salon. January 14, 2018. The surprising ways voter suppression particularly hurts women.
Photo: Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, American Press Association, copyright claimant / Public domain, 1912