techPresident - polling - Comments

Women's Voices. Women Vote

OverCaffein8d — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:19:46 -0400

You are right -- all talk and no action isn't going to make changes. The unmarried women conundrum was talked about in 2000, which is why Women's Voices. Women Vote (WVWV) was formed in 2003.

During 2004, WVWV ran extensive voter registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) for unmarried women in 16 states. The results? In 2004, unmarried women accounted for 22.4 percent of the total votes cast, compared to only 19 percent in 2000.

In 2006, in addition to traditional voter registration and GOTV, WVWV sent birthday card voter registration reminders close to the 18th birthdays of young women. And the "First Time ... Voting" public service announcements (www.wvwv.org/mediaroom) reached a broad audience on TV, radio, and YouTube.

In 2007, WVWV published the "100 Hour Agenda for Unmarried Women" to coincide with Nancy Pelosi's "100 Hour Agenda" for the new congressional session. And, WVWV just released the "State of Unmarried America" report to help policy makers better understand the demographics and issues for unmarried women.

WVWV also created several video questions for the CNN / YouTube presidential debates. Out of the first 200 videos submitted, only 34 were from women! I am really encouraging women to submit video questions for these debates so that women’s voices are heard (www.youtube.com/debates). The deadline for the Democratic debate is July 22, but you have until mid-September to submit a video question for the Republican debate on September 17.

Women of the Poli-Tech behind the scenes, show yourselves!

Morra Aarons — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:43:50 -0400

Hi Sarah-

Yeah...well, I think there are a lot of us working away. Especially in state politics now...check out the women behind Michigan Liberal, for example.

I'd love to look at data and see if gender roles in political work mirrors say, TV or, I don't know, real estate speculation. I have no idea...

I could not agree more

Morra Aarons — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:35:10 -0400

But wasn't the unmarried women conundrum also a big talking point in 2000 and 2004? What's Women's Voices, Women's Vote got planned for this cycle to increase unmarried women's poll turnout?

Blogging is a great outlet to reach these women, but candidates have to do something about it too...

All great points

Sarah Granger — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:09:06 -0400

Thanks for writing about this, Morra. I look forward to the next installment. The only question I have is - where are the other women like us who work behind the scenes? I've met very few. I'd be curious to know whether the ratio mirrors that of similar fields.

The Marriage Gap in Women Voting

OverCaffein8d — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:54:56 -0400

Thank you for a very informative piece. As you stated, more women than men now vote, but there is a significant "marriage gap" in voting. In the last presidential election, 71% of married women voted, compared to only 59% of unmarried women -- a 12 percentage point difference! In 2004, 15 million unmarried women were not registered to vote, and another 5 million were registered but did not vote. This is particularly significant, because for the first time in history, nearly half of all American women are unmarried. There are over 49 million unmarried women today and the number of unmarried women is growing faster than any other large segment of the population.

As we look at the women who vote, to paraphrase Tina Turner, what does marriage have to do with it?

Well, many unmarried women are young and single, and in general, people under 30 vote in lower numbers than older Americans. (Hopefully that will change in 2008.) Unmarried people also tend to relocate more frequently than married people, and every time you move, you have to re-register to vote. But, more importantly, many unmarried women stay on the sidelines of elections because they don’t feel the candidates understand their issues. These “women on their own”, who are single, divorced, or widowed, are especially concerned about healthcare and pay equity issues. Unlike a working married couple who can choose the best healthcare coverage from either spouse’s employer, women on the own have fewer choices. Married couples frequently have two incomes, but women on their own can only count on one paycheck. And, on top of that, women on average still earn significantly less than men. So even though economic and healthcare issues are important for all Americans, their importance is magnified for the over 49 million women who are on their own. And, many of the solutions proposed by political candidates do not address the needs of these women.

Women’s Voices. Women Vote (www.wvwv.org) is seeking to increase unmarried women's participation in the electorate and in the political discussions this year, next year in 2008, and beyond. Women bloggers are a great way to ensure women's voices are heard in the political policy debates so that we can close the "marriage gap" on Election Day. I look forward to the next posting in this series.

fascinating

Bates — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:09:11 -0400

Welcome to TP Morra! I didn't know women are the fastest growing group of bloggers. I'm working with the Heinz Family Philanthropies and we have only just started to reach out to women in the online space with the release of our free eBook, What Women Need to Know About Retirement. Given Teresa Heinz Kerry's commitment to women's causes, we have only begun to break the surface.
http://www.womensretirement.org

Looking forward to your next post!